A CONWY photographer has captured the moment that waves off the coast of Anglesey glowed “like electricity”.

Llion Griffiths had spent morning, day and night waiting patiently at Penmon beach where he would sleep in his van before a work shift in the hope of witnessing the rare phenomenon.

“I have never seen anything like it,” said the 45-year-old. “The waves were coming in like electricity, and not just coming towards us – as the wind was changing, the waves would fly to the left and to the right.

“I could see it was glowing out at sea about 50 to 100 metres out, had an idea that as soon as turned it would bring it all in. Within a quarter of an hour turning the place was bouncing with it.

“We were so excited we were screaming, ‘what the hell!’, you know? It went on for about three hours.”

The phenomenon is caused by bioluminescent plankton that contain a chemical called luciferin, which glows when it interacts with oxygen.

Mr Griffiths, from Llanfair TH, said the display can often be seen off the island at the start of June and a tell-tale sign is a bronze colour or “brown gunge” in the sea during the daytime.

It can also be seen in the warm seas off Thailand, the Maldives and Australia.

“Everybody tries to capture that unique special moment but, when you start looking into it, a lot of work goes into catching a moment like that,” he said.

“We know it likes the summer months in Wales but some say the wind has to come from a certain direction, but really it just appears out of the blue.

“I turned up daily over the last couple of weeks and spent quite a few nights there. I had tried to keep it quiet as the last thing you need is people coming in from left, right and centre.”

Mr Griffiths, who works in Bodelwyddan, has been practicing photography for five years after being inspired by Snowdonia landscapes during journeys on his bike. He focuses on sunrises and sunsets and has been nominated for the British Landscape Photographer of the Year and his work has been showcased around the UK.

He has a trip to Scotland planned in the near future, including visits to the Isle of Harris, Glencoe, and the Isle of Skye.

“I tend to be out more and more now and hang around for night skies,” he said. “I like low-light photography and cameras these days have taken photography in darkness onto a different level.

“In North Wales we’re spoilt; just five minutes out of the door and I’m in world class seascapes, half an hour to the middle of the mountains in Snowdonia. Everything I need is within an hour of me.”