Phytoplankton Blooms off the Falkland Islands

When the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image on December 2, 2015, the waters northeast of the Falkland Islands were awash with color. The swirling greens and blues are densely concentrated phytoplankton growing on the surface of the ocean. These microscopic, plant-like organisms thrive in the cool, nutrient-rich waters off the coast of southern Argentina.

1. Related Reading

2. Department of Ecology, State of Washington Marine Algae Blooms. Accessed December 3, 2015.
3. NASA Earth Observatory (2010, July 13) What Are Phytoplankton?
4. NASA Earth Observatory (2014, July) Global Maps: Chlorophyll

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NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response. Caption and image cropping by Adam Voiland.

Published December 3, 2015
Data acquired December 2, 2015

Source:

Terra > MODIS

Collection:

MODIS Rapid Response