The Wheels of Poseidon are a biological phenomenon in which bioluminescent zooplankton create a luminescent wake from the bows of ships in the Indian Ocean. The perception from the luminescent wakes is that it resembles the spokes of a wheel, thus the name. (Poseidon was the Greek god of the sea). The detonation of explosives underwater has also been observed to produce the effect.[1]
Ley, Willy (1967). Willy Ley's For Your Information: On Earth and in the Sky. Doubleday.