Phytoplankton bloom off Nova Scotia

The waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (top) are midnight blue in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Aqua satellite on July 2, 2003. South of Nova Scotia (center), however, bright blue swirls in the water suggest a bloom of marine organisms, perhaps a kind of phytoplankton called a coccolithophore, a single-celled plant whose chalky white covering can cause the water to appear bright blue.

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Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published July 3, 2003
Data acquired July 2 - 2, 2003

Source:

Aqua > MODIS

Topics:

Biosphere > Microbiota > Coccolithophore

Biosphere > Microbiota > Phytoplankton

Biosphere > Vegetation > Biomass

Biosphere > Vegetation > Phytoplankton