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.
Published Jul 3, 2007
July 2019 brought the latest display of a phytoplankton bloom that occurs every year in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Published Jul 15, 2019
For several weeks in May and early June, daily satellite images of the North Atlantic Ocean west of Ireland have captured partial glimpses of luxuriant blooms of microscopic marine plants between patches of clouds. On June 4, 2007, the skies over the ocean cleared, displaying the sea’s spring bloom in brilliant color. A bright blue bloom stretches north from the Mouth of the River Shannon and tapers off like a plume of blue smoke north of Clare Island.
Published Jun 6, 2007
In mid-June 2016, satellites captured images of a bloom east of the Shetland Islands.
Published Jun 14, 2016
Streaks of blue and green color the South Atlantic Ocean in this image from January 9 2010.
Published Jan 30, 2010
Intense streaks of blue and green colored the South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina on November 15, 2009.
Published Nov 21, 2009
Bright colors mark the return of the annual North Atlantic phytoplankton bloom to ocean waters from Denmark to Iceland.
Published Jul 12, 2013
Acquired September 10, 2011, this natural-color image shows a persistent phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea.
Published Sep 15, 2011
