What is the name of the phenomenon that causes the sea to illuminate when a wave breaks?

I'm not sure, though I have seen some REALLY freaky phosphorescence down in Long Beach when there was a terrible case of red tide. As people walked along the beach at night, the sand they stepped on glowed like a lightning bug. Fish could be seen as little greenish specks darting around in the water. Red tide is caused when algea populations explode. I'm not sure what's in the algea that glows (or even if it's responsible for the phenomenon you're asking about), but I can say it was one of the most surrel experiences in my life to see the sea light up like that from red tide. (I just looked it up-- the glowing water I saw may have been due to dinoflagellate luciferin. I wish I knew if we're talking about the same thing.)