Distribution of bioluminescent organisms in the Mediterranean Sea and predicted effects on a deep-sea neutrino telescope

The density of bioluminescent organisms was measured using an ISIT camera profiler in the eastern and western Mediterranean, from the subsurface layer to the seafloor; in the Ligurian, Tyrrhenian, Ionian, Adriatic Seas and the Strait of Sicily, including neutrino telescope sites at ANTARES and NESTOR. A west–east gradient in the density of bioluminescent animals in deep water (1500–2500 m) was observed, with the average density in the Ligurian (ANTARES) Sea (0.65±0.13 m−3) an order of magnitude greater than the E Ionian (NESTOR) Sea (0.06±0.04 m−3). Additionally, an exponential relationship was found between the density of near-bed bioluminescence (0–400 mab) and depth, with greatest divergence from the trend at the extreme west and easterly sites. For small scale effects we applied flash kinetics of bioluminescent organisms to map the bioluminescent field around a sphere; we predict most light emission downstream of an optical module.