Plankton thrive in Australia’s Leeuwin Current during the fall and winter, even though warm oceans are usually too poor in nutrients to support such blooms.
Published Jul 2, 2014
This offshoot of the Circumpolar Current carries cool water north along the coast of South America until it encounters water pouring out of the Rio de la Plata.
Published May 7, 2005
The waters along the west coast of North America are some of the most biologically productive in the world.
Published Mar 1, 2016
This pair of sea surface temperature images shows how the warm waters of the Loop Current connect the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean and the dynamic northern margin of the current on May 18. On May 18, NOAA reported that oil was very close to, and perhaps already entrained in, the Loop Current.
Published May 20, 2010
Off the coast of northern Japan and eastern Russia, a swirl of currents push ice around in a clash of winter and summer currents.
Published Apr 28, 2014
The pigments in tiny phytoplankton provide a way to see which way water is flowing.
Published Oct 3, 2014
The Yellow Sea has some of the most turbid and dynamic waters in the world.
Published Mar 24, 2015
La Niña, the large area of cold water in the Pacific Ocean widely blamed for last summer's drought and often related to an increase in the number of hurricanes that make landfall, appears to be on its last legs.
Published May 10, 2000
Along the northeastern coast of Greenland, glaciers and ocean currents sometimes produce an eye-catching display of shapes and colors.
Published Aug 10, 2006
The convergence of warm and cold currents off the coast of Patagonia helps fuel large blooms of phytoplankton. This pair of images shows temperature and chlorophyll in November 2009.
Published Jan 12, 2010
Millions of tiny, single-celled plant-like organisms ring the Falkland Islands in this photo-like image taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on January 13, 2008. These organisms, called phytoplankton, reflect light, coloring the ocean with whimsical swirls of blue and green.
Published Jan 15, 2008
