Blooms in the Northeast Atlantic

May 25, 2017JPEG

On May 25, 2017, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite acquired this image of several phytoplankton blooms in the waters around Britain and France. Increasing sunlight in the spring provides the energy for the floating, microscopic plant-like organisms to bloom in vast numbers.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using VIIRS data from LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response. Caption by Mike Carlowicz.

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Springtime brings phytoplankton blooms to the waters off of Britain and France.

Instrument:: Suomi NPP — VIIRS

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Phytoplankton Bloom off New Jersey

A bloom large enough to be visible from space shows up off the coast of New Jersey.

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Phytoplankton Factory in the Argentine Sea

In spring and summer, conditions are often just right for populations of the plant-like organisms explode into enormous blooms.

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Phytoplankton Bloom in the Barents Sea

Phytoplankton are tiny plant-like organisms that are the foundation of the ocean food web. Like plants, they contain chlorophyll and other pigments that they use to harvest sunlight for photosynthesis. In northern waters, these organisms are starved for sunlight much of the year, but during the summer months, they explode in colorful blooms such as this one.

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Phytoplankton Bloom off Newfoundland

Acquired August 9, 2010, this natural-color image shows peacock-blue swirls in the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Newfoundland.

Blooms in the Northeast Atlantic

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Phytoplankton Bloom off New Jersey

Phytoplankton Factory in the Argentine Sea

Phytoplankton Bloom in the Barents Sea

Phytoplankton Bloom off Newfoundland

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