Little glowing green balls washed up on beach?

Question

I was at Myrtle Beach recently, and we were out walking the beach at night, down where the waves were washing up, and as they would wash back out we would see little glowing green lights left in the sand. They would only stay lit up for a few seconds, but when we were able to scoop one up and look at it, it was just a small clear little ball, that looked like it was full of liquid. Some were a little bigger than others, but they were mostly the size of BB's. Any one have a clue? I figured they were some type of egg, but don't really know.

Answer 1

They sound like Noctiluca, a single celled creature that glows in the dark. I wouldn't expect them to be so big though, they are supposed to be 2mm max.

Answer 2

This is phosphate, a mineral, which glows at night and fades rather quickly, almost like a firefly glows intermittently.

Answer 3

Noctilucae sounds good; I thought it might be radioactive discharge from a sunken submarine!! :)