Phytoplankton are usually most abundant in this area when spring melting and runoff freshen the water and add nutrients just as sunlight is increasing.
Published May 8, 2018
Early summer water conditions provide fertile territory for phytoplankton blooms.
Published Jul 5, 2015
These swirling tendrils of phytoplankton might be Noctiluca scintillans—a type of marine dinoflagellate known to inhabit this area.
Published Jun 16, 2023
Phytoplankton and sediment produced a vivid display in this relatively shallow sea between Great Britain and northern Europe.
Published Apr 9, 2020
In July 2016, phytoplankton in the Barents Sea turned the surface waters milky blue.
Published Jul 6, 2016
This image shows a colorful bloom of phytoplankton in the Black Sea on June 4, 2008, along the southern coast near the Turkish cities of Sinop and Samsun. The natural-color image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. Loops and swirls of blooming phytoplankton follow the coastline, while farther out in the open waters (upper right), the blooms become more spread out. The greenish plumes hugging the coast from Sinop westward to just beyond Samsun may be river plumes. River plumes can contain nutrients that stimulate phytoplankton blooms, but they may also contain sediment and organic matter that can color the water.
Published Jun 10, 2008
The northern and western highlands of Scotland were still winter-brown and even dusted with snow in places, but the waters of the North Sea were blooming with phytoplankton on May 8, 2008, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the region and captured this image. The tiny, plant-like organisms swirled in the waters off the country’s east coast, coloring the shallow coastal waters shades of bright blue and green.
Published May 13, 2008
Phytoplankton require sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow.
Published Nov 18, 2016
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