What feature of life rafts aids visibility at night?

The feature of life rafts that aids visibility at night is the saltwater activated lights. These lights are critical for ensuring that a life raft can be seen in low-light or complete darkness conditions, which is often crucial for search and rescue operations. When the life raft comes into contact with saltwater, these lights automatically activate, providing illumination that enhances visibility significantly.

While reflective strips and bright colors do contribute to visibility during the day or in certain conditions, they do not provide the same level of assurance in total darkness that an activated light source does. Emergency flares can also signal distress but are separate devices not integrated into the life raft itself. Hence, saltwater activated lights are specifically designed to improve night-time visibility directly attached to the life raft, making them the most effective feature for this purpose.