Creatures of Light: Nature's Bioluminescence at the Peoria Riverfront Museum

"Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence" immerses visitors in the extraordinary world of organisms that produce light, from the flickering fireflies (aka "lightning bugs") found in backyards across the Midwest to the deep-sea fishes that illuminate the perpetually dark depths of the oceans. Rare among plants and animals that live on land, the ability to glow - that is, to generate light through a chemical reaction - is much more common in the ocean, where up to 90 percent of animals at depths below 700 meters (2,300 feet) are bioluminescent.

"Creatures of Light" reveals some of the most magical, wondrous, and truly extraordinary creatures and phenomena to be found in the natural world and takes visitors to such fascinating places as a bioluminescent bay and the far depths of the ocean, explains why and how certain animals create "living light," and helps us all better understand the vast and glorious ecosystem of which we are just a part.

In "Creatures of Light," visitors will move through a series of re-created environments, from the familiar to the extreme, to explore the diversity of organisms that glow and how they do it; discover the variety of ways in which light is used to attract a mate, lure unsuspecting prey, or defend against a predator; and learn how, where, and why scientists study this amazing natural phenomenon.