New stamps feature glowing deep sea creatures

Eye-popping images of bioluminescent life

The U.S. Postal Service released a new set of forever stamps Thursday. They stamps feature deep sea creatures that are bioluminescent -- or creatures that generate their own light. From jellyfish to fireflies and even mushrooms, the unique images captured by different scientists and photographers are filled with wonder and beauty. 

According to the Postal Service, the stamps don’t glow in the dark, they incorporate a special effect. The stamp pane was produced using a proprietary rainbow holographic material that is highly reflective in white light. The stamp pane was produced using special techniques to enhance the reflective qualities of the material while maintaining the depth of color and detail of the individual images. The rainbow pattern imparts a sense of movement and light to the stamp pane.

Dr. Edith Widder from Ft. Pierce took seven of the ten breathtaking shots used in the stamp series. Dr Widder is excited to be a part of the project, " I’m thrilled that the post office chose to highlight bioluminescence with these stamps.  The fact that so many creatures on our planet have this amazing ability to make light is a greatly underappreciated fact.  It’s wonderful to have this opportunity to introduce a completely new audience to what is one of the great natural wonders of our world. "

 She described the scenario for capturing these shots, “All of these images were taken in shipboard laboratories of live specimens that were collected either by submersible or remotely operated vehicle," Widder said.

The Images

Deep-ocean octopus (Stauroteuthis syrtensis) by Edith Widder

According to the US Postal Service, the deep-ocean octopus was collected from Oceanographer Canyon in the Gulf of Maine in 1997 at a depth of 755 m.  The image appeared on the cover of  the cover of Nature magazine because it proved to be an example of evolution caught in the act - suckers turning into light organs. It was collected with the Johnson-Sea-Link (JSL) submersible that can reach a depth of 3,000 ft.  This specimen was collected into an 11 L detritus sampler.  Once on board ship it was placed in a plankton kreisel and photographed with a Nikon SLR camera with Kodak Elite 100 color film. The mantle length was 9 cm (approx.. 3.5 inches).

Midwater jellyfish (Atolla vanhoeffeni), by Edith Widder

The Atolla vanhoeffeni was collected in the Gulf of Maine 1999 with the JSL.  Its depth range is 200 – 1690 m.  Its pinwheel display of bioluminescence was filmed with an intensified video camera.  This image is a still frame that has been colorized to match the emission spectrum which peaks at about 465 nm.  Its diameter is 5 cm (almost two inches).

 

Deep-sea comb jelly (Bathocyroe fosteri) by Edith Widder and lit externally

The Bathocyroe fosteri  is a common comb jelly found between 200 and 1000 m. It has oral lobes that it flaps to swim.  It has a transparent body, but gut is pigmented to mask the light emitted by its luminescent prey such as copepods and krill.  The comb jelly is about 4 cm (1.5 inches) across lobes.

 

 

Bamboo coral (Keratoisis flexibilis) by Edith Widder

The Keratoisis flexibilis is bamboo coral collected from 306 m deep in the Gulf of Mexico using the JSL in 2004.  When you rub up against this coral it releases astonishing amounts of slime and lights up like a Christmas tree.  This image was filmed with an intensified video camera and then colorized still frame.

 

Marine worm (Flota) under external lighting by Edith Widder

Flota - A polychaete – like an earthworm – but adapted for life in the midwater.  Collected in the Gulf of California in 2003 with the ROV Tiburon.  Depth 3,140 ft.  Length of specimen 7.5 cm  It emits blue-green light.

 

 

 

Crown jellyfish (Atolla wyvillei). Shown under external lighting by Edith Widder

Atolla wyvillei -  A bioluminescent jellyfish collected by the JSL in the Gulf of Maine in 1999.  It was the display from this jellyfish that inspired the electronic jellyfish that was used as the lure to attract the giant squid and allowed Dr Widder to capture the first images of Architeuthis in the deep sea-– once called the holy grail of natural history cinematography.

 

Sea pen (Umbellula), by Edith Widder

Umbellula lindahli – a deep-sea seapen sometimes called the droopy sea pen.  Collected from 900 m in Monterey Canyon by ROV.

 

 

 

Mushrooms (Mycena lucentipes) by Taylor Lockwood of Mount Dora, Florida. 

Taylor captured this shot of the mushroom cluster photo in the darkness of the jungles of Brazil. Taylor describes capturing the shot, “After many years of traveling the globe in search of beautiful mushrooms, I have gotten only deeper into a new passion: searching for the rarest of them all, bioluminescent mushrooms.

There are only about 85 of these glow-in-the-dark wonders named and re­corded from around the world.

But the thrill of seeing them in a darkened forest, or better yet -- finding new ones, has turned my passion into a tremendously rewarding obsession.

The picture was actually shot against the side of  Pico do Marumbi (Paraná, Brazil).These Mycena lucentipes were found in some of the remaining Atlantic rain forests of southern Brazil, in the state of Paraná.

That evening I had taken the Paranaguá-Curitiba jungle train halfway up the mountains, got off where I knew there would be a trail back down to the low­lands, and started slowly walking down the hill in the dark.There still are jaguars and deadly snakes in these areas but the thrill of the hunt for glowing mushrooms numbs my sense of danger.

With my lights off more than half the time, and on only enough to navigate from stop to stop, it took my slow, methodical process several hours until I found the only potential “shot” of the night. Fortunately, the mushrooms were bright enough to photograph and a beautiful collection at that.

The photo was taken with a Canon 60D and a Canon EFS 60mm macro lens.Exposure: ISO 3200, f8 at approx. 10 seconds.”

Firefly by Author and National Geographic Explorer, National Wildlife and Ranger Rick photographer Gail Shumway of Sarasota, FL 

In Gail’s words, “The image of the firefly that will be on the postage stamp was taken about 10 years ago in Lafayette, Indiana. Lafayette is where I grew up as a child. I live in Sarasota, Florida now.

I was in a soybean field and it was getting close to dusk but I still had enough ambient light to take the shot. There were many fireflies in the field at the time and they were flying all around me. I set up my camera on a tripod close to the ground. This was a shot where I needed to use the available light. I could not use a flash because it would over power the light I wanted to capture from the insect. I focused on a soybean leaf close to the ground in hopes that one of the fireflies would land on it and at the same time emit its light. I took quite a few images over a period of 30 minutes before I got the one that I wanted.

I used a Nikon F4, 35 mm SLR film camera and a 105 mm macro lens set at f/5.6 for 1/30 sec. using Fujichrome Velvia film.”

Marine Worm (Tomopteris) by Monterey Bay Aquarium Senior Scientist/Marine Biologist Steven Haddock of Moss Landing, California

In Steven’s words “It was collected at a depth of 1,320 ft. by a remotely controlled submersible vehicle. Collected during a dive of the remotely operated vehicle ROV Ventana to a max depth of 1000 meters (3,300ft). Animal collected from about 400 meters (1320 ft.) depth.  Steven used a Nikon N90 with 55mm macro. 100 ISO film. He typically shoots at f11 at 1/100th sec. using a single strobe.

For studying bioluminescence of animals that live in the water column (between the surface and the sea floor) we have to collect them in excellent condition. Otherwise they are so disturbed by the collection process that they expend their limited light-producing resources.  Most animals in the ocean make blue or green bioluminescent light. This worm Tomopteris is one of the very few that makes yellow light instead. It is a very challenging subject to collect and photograph because when excited, they swim ceaselessly, and they are very transparent. When disturbed, they eject a cloud of golden sparkles into the water. We don’t know the reason that they make yellow light instead of blue, as they have no image forming eyes. We are studying the chemistry of the molecules they use to make the light. Related species are found around the world.”