Our world is a mysterious place, filled with unique events and happenings that can take years to explain. Some phenomena are never truly explained, either. One that has hung around for years, though, is the prospect of a milky sea. Read any kind of nautical history or sailors' log, and you will probably come across the concept of a milky sea. However, while for years it has been put down as nothing more than a myth or a misinterpretation, today we have some kind of meaningful proof that milky seas are real.
Sailing at night can produce some stunning sights, but also some unsettling moments. Sailors have for centuries spoken of the presence of ‘milky’ seas that look almost glowing in their color. This made the water appear a kind of white color, like milk. For years, this was dismissed as either fiction or a simple collection of bacteria being illuminated by the moonlight.
However, analysis has been carried out by Steven Miller, an atmospheric scientist operating at the Colorado State University. Miller was able to find decades' worth of data to examine and used this to try and provide proof of milky seas being a real thing.
The data found several cases that could point to milky seas, with one instance being found to the south of Java. The milky waters here were supposed to have hung around for over a month, making them a key part of the study.
Incredibly, a photo that was produced in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA study showed a gorgeous milky sea. It was taken by crew member Naomi McKinnon, who got in touch with Miller about the photos after reading his study.
The crew was surrounded by what Miller claimed was to be a milky sea the size of Iceland. While we still don’t know what a milky sea is, we can finally say with visual proof that they exist!