Dinoflagellates are a diverse class of algae, acting as endosymbionts in corals and forming toxic red tide blooms. As oceans warm, coral bleaching and red tide events have been exacerbated, threatening marine biodiversity and human health. The study of these organisms has been hindered by challenges in genome sequencing and a lack of commercially available tools, and scientists are still in the early stages of testing, optimizing, and redesigning existing techniques. Dinoflagellate bioluminescence is a topic of interest for many scientists and a starting point for novel red tide control methods. The underlying mechanism for dinoflagellate bioluminescence is still a mystery—but recent studies implicate G Protein-Coupled Receptors as the “triggers” for this unique shear-stimulated pathway. GPCRs are ubiquitous in multicellular life: GPCRs in humans control several systems, from sight and taste to neurons and drug activity. Understanding bioluminescence in dinoflagellates will lead to species-specific methods of red tide control, and dinoflagellate GPCR studies may have applications in receptor research and drug design. Here we synthesize current knowledge on dinoflagellates and bioluminescence, discuss recent breakthroughs and pitfalls in dinoflagellate research, and present theoretical mechanisms for bioluminescence with far-reaching implications for molecular biology and ecology.