Mudtrails from Fishing Trawlers in Gulf of Mexico

The pervasiveness of the influence of bottom trawlers on the Gulf of Mexico is evident in these images from NASA’s Landsat satellite. Showing two different areas of a single scene captured on October 24, 1999, the images reveal dozens of mudtrails streaking the Gulf in the wake of numerous trawlers, which appear as white dots. The amount of re-suspended sediment dredged up by the trawlers gives the water a cloudy appearance.

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NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Cover Facility.

Published June 7, 2007
Data acquired October 24, 1999

Sources:

Landsat 7

Landsat 7 > ETM+