Origin of term "sea sparkle"

EOL Pages
#1

Many recent references (including this site) refer to Noctiluca scintillans as “sea sparkle.” See http://eol.org/pages/901153/details.

I don’t find this reference in earlier (before 2000) scientific or popular literature.

Could someone point me towards a source where this term came into being?

Perhaps it’s just colloquial with no specific origin?

Thank for any assistance!

Sean

#2

Good question! EOL accepts vernacular names from many crowdsourced user communities, and the origin is not usually documented. It would be interesting to know where some modern vernaculars are originating, if anyone has a lead on Sea sparkle.

Jen