North Atlantic Bloom

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July 15, 2007

July 15, 2007JPEG

The intense blue and green colors of the ocean water in this photo-like image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on July 15, 2007, are made by millions of surface-dwelling ocean plants. Called phytoplankton, the plants are the base of the marine food chain. The brilliant color shown here may only be a part of the full bloom. Stocked with nutrients that have built up during the winter and bathed in the long, sunlit days of late spring and early summer, the cool waters of the North Atlantic come alive every year with a vivid display of color that can stretch over thousands of kilometers.

You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of the North Atlantic bloom suitable for use with Google Earth.

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the MODIS data archives.

Location

View this area in EO Explorer

Instrument:: Aqua — MODIS

North Atlantic Bloom

Millions of tiny plants bloom in the sun-lit waters of the North Atlantic Ocean every spring and summer, painting the water with brilliant swirls of blue and green.

North Atlantic Bloom

North Atlantic Bloom

North Atlantic Bloom

Image

North Atlantic Bloom

Reminiscent of the distinctive swirls in a Van Gogh painting, millions of microscopic plants color the waters of the North Atlantic with strokes of blue, turquoise, green, and brown. Fed by nutrients that have built up during the winter and the long, sunlit days of late spring and early summer, the cool waters of the North Atlantic come alive every year with a vivid display of color. The microscopic plants, called phytoplankton, that give the water this color are the base of the marine food chain.

North Atlantic Bloom

Image

North Atlantic Bloom

Reminiscent of the distinctive swirls in a Van Gogh painting, millions of microscopic plants color the waters of the North Atlantic with strokes of blue, turquoise, green, and brown. Fed by nutrients that have built up during the winter and the long, sunlit days of late spring and early summer, the cool waters of the North Atlantic come alive every year with a vivid display of color. The microscopic plants, called phytoplankton, that give the water this color are the base of the marine food chain.

Iceland’s Waters Abloom

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Iceland’s Waters Abloom

July 2019 brought the latest display of a phytoplankton bloom that occurs every year in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Spring Bloom in the North Atlantic

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Spring Bloom in the North Atlantic