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.
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.