240 events, one hotspot
Analysis shows that almost 60 per cent of all documented displays occurred in a triangle bounded by Somalia, Yemen’s Socotra Island, and the Maldives. A second cluster spans Indonesia’s Java and Banda Seas.
The team also found a clear statistical link between milky-sea sightings and two major climate oscillations: the Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. When those patterns push warm, nutrient-rich surface water into the region, the odds of a glow rise sharply.