Spectacular green neon flashes flaring up the sea along Ireland’s east coast is not radioactive waste but a harmless natural phenom-enon, marine experts have said.

Hardy swimmers taking dips after dark in popular outdoor bathing spots such as the Forty Foot and Killiney Bay in Dublin have been enjoying the aquatic light show in recent weeks.

The Marine Institute said the flashes were most likely a bioluminescent plankton called Noctiluca scintillans – sometimes known as Sea Ghost or Fire of Sea – and not radioactive waste from Sellafield as some swimmers had feared. via (PA)