Photographs of bioluminescent species to be featured on U.S. Postage Stamp Collection
Stunning photographs from Dr. Edith Widder, a past Loggerhead Marinelife Center Go Blue Awards recipient, current Go Blue Awards judge and CEO/senior scientist of Ocean Research & Conservation Association will be featured on a new United States postage stamp that captures the mystery and beauty of bioluminescence.
Made of holographic material, these new USPS Forever stamps feature 10 different photographs of bioluminescent creatures, ranging from glowing jellyfish in ocean depths to neon mushrooms on forest floors and night skies filled with lustrous fireflies. Bioluminescence happens when a living organism produces and emits light, either to avert predators, attract a mate or signal distress.
Seven of the stamp images are from Dr. Widder. The additional three images come from two other Florida photographers.
According to the U.S. Postal Service, the stamps are created with holographic material that highly reflects white light to “impart a sense of movement.”
The stamps will be released for sale this Thursday, Feb. 22. That same day at 11 a.m., Dr. Widder will speak at the Sunrise Theater in Fort Pierce in recognition of the stamps’ first day of issue.
“We’ve only explored about five percent of our oceans,” Dr. Widder said at a 2013 TED Talk about finding and photographing a giant squid. “There are discoveries yet to be made down there of fantastic creatures representing millions of years of evolution.”
The entire team of staff, volunteers and supporters at Loggerhead Marinelife Center congratulates Dr. Edith Widder and the other photographers on this exciting news! Thank you for all you do to protect our blue planet.
Read more about these unique, beautiful stamps here.
