Phytoplankton bloom in the Baltic Sea

Phytoplankton bloom in the Baltic Sea

A large phytoplankton bloom was spreading in the Baltic Sea last week, coloring its surface waters turquoise. This Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) image taken July 3, 2001, shows the extent of the bloom. (Click to learn more about phytoplankton.)

Many European countries border the Baltic Sea, including Sweden and Finland to the north; Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to the east; Poland and Germany to the south; and Denmark to the west.

Image courtesy the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE