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www.nasa.gov Instagram.comColoring the Black Sea 🎨
In satellite images, the Black Sea is often a dark, inky blue. But a phytoplankton bloom recently painted the water with color so brilliant it can be seen from space.
The turquoise swirls indicate the presence of phytoplankton tracing the flow of water currents and eddies. One type of phytoplankton commonly found in the Black Sea is coccolithophores—microscopic plankton that are plated with white calcium carbonate. When aggregated in large numbers, these reflective plates are easily visible from space and make the water appear bright, milky blue. 🌊
📸This image blends data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-20 satellite and the VIIRS on the Suomi NPP satellite.
#BlackSea #Ocean #EarthFromSpace #NASA #Phytoplankton
