Marine biologist David Gruber, of City University of New York, chanced upon the first ever recorded bioflurescing reptile this July in the Solomon Islands. The critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtle that he and his team filmed was fluorescing red and green.

This is what Alexander Gaos, director of the Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Initiative, has to say about the discovery,

*”I’ve been [studying turtles] for a long time and I don’t think anyone’s ever seen this. [Biofluorescence is] usually used for finding and attracting prey or defense or some kind of communication. In this instance, it could be a kind of camouflage for the sea turtle.”

Gaos was not involved with the expedition.

The team also recorded other small Hawksbill turtles glowing red, but have yet to determine whether the ability is isolated to this population or a characteristic of Hawksbills throughout the world.

Read the full National Geographic article here.