Exhibit takes you to ocean’s depths

‘Illuminating of the Deep’ combines art, science, virtual reality.

Bioluminescence — how sea life sparkles to stalk prey, lure mates and spook predators — is the language of the deep, deep ocean.

“These animals operate in the dark. They light up like a theater display to communicate,” said Janeen Mason, curator of the Lighthouse ArtCenter where the “Illuminating of the Deep” exhibit runs until March 4.

Landlubbers, except for fireflies and glowworms, don’t do bioluminescence. But about 90 percent of sea life lights up, says Steve Bernstein, an inventor and scientist whose work is featured at the exhibit.

“Just like dolphins and whales use (expressive speech) to communicate, deep sea animals use light,” said Bernstein.

Stepping into the center off Tequesta Drive, the first thing a visitor notices is a life-size blue, green and gold 22-foot-long digital photograph of a giant squid on the floor. A basketball-sized gadget made of clear plastic, with lights on the inside blinking on and off every 60 seconds, is perched on a nearby shelf.

“This was the bait. It lit up like a jellyfish, food for the squid,” said Mason, tapping on the plastic ball.

Scientists in 2013 used the ball to film the first-ever recording of a giant squid in its natural habitat about 2,000 feet deep off the coast of Japan. Fist-sized suckers with sharp teeth line each of the eight legs. The giant squids, until then nearly as elusive as the Loch Ness monster, can grow up to 60 feet in length.

The ocean inhales carbon dioxide, exhales oxygen, produces food, provides medicine, is a nursery for sea life and serves as a floating highway, he said.

“The ocean is an amazing buffer for life,” said Bernstein, who has done submarine research down to about 3,000 feet off Bermuda and in the Mediterranean Sea. The four-person subs are about the size of an elevator. “I want people to leave the exhibit with a better understanding of that.”

Crustaceans, plankton, fish, squid and jellyfish use bioluminescence, which converts chemical energy to light energy. Some light themselves like streetlamps. Others spit out light to scare predators.

Paintings, photographs and artwork from internationally recognized underwater experts Edith Widder and Bernstein are part of the exhibit.

Visitors can put on virtual reality interactive goggles that transport them thousands of feet deep into the stripped-clean bones of a whale carcass slumbering on the bottom.

Visitors can also see the Solidarity Fish Project, which has been on display from the Everglades to Washington, D.C. Local residents have painted thousands of footlong wooden fish cutouts in vivid colors on one side. When flipped over, the other side shows skeletal remains on a black background.