Phytoplankton bloom off Newfoundland, Canada

A bright blue phytoplankton bloom is peaking through the clouds south of the island of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean off the Canada coast. When the bloom appear whitish, as the one in this true-color image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite, it can sometimes indicate the presence of coccolithophores, phytoplankton that encase themselves in scaly shells made out of calcite (chalk). This image was acquired on July 27, 2002.

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Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published August 25, 2002
Data acquired July 27 - 27, 2002

Source:

Terra > MODIS

Topics:

Biosphere > Microbiota > Coccolithophore

Biosphere > Microbiota > Phytoplankton

Biosphere > Vegetation > Biomass

Biosphere > Vegetation > Phytoplankton