Swirling jewel tones of a vast algae bloom were visible off the coast of Iceland between banks of white clouds on the image above, captured by NASA’s Aqua satellite earlier in June.
The spring bloom of phytoplankton is driven by longer daylight and the warming of the oceanic surface layers. This leads to stratification of the waters, and allows the phytoplankton to stay in the surface layer and reproduce. By summer the huge numbers of phytoplankton in the blooms decreases nutrients, and the numbers of the organisms begins to plummet.
Swirling jewel tones of a vast algae bloom were visible off the coast of Iceland between banks of white clouds on the image above, captured by NASA’s Aqua satellite earlier in June.
The spring bloom of phytoplankton is driven by longer daylight and the warming of the oceanic surface layers. This leads to stratification of the waters, and allows the phytoplankton to stay in the surface layer and reproduce. By summer the huge numbers of phytoplankton in the blooms decreases nutrients, and the numbers of the organisms begins to plummet.
