Phytoplankton and Coccolithophores in the Bering Sea

  • Credit

    Provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE

The Bering Strait—the stretch of water between Siberia and Alaska—features some of the world’s most productive ocean waters. This Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) image from June 26 & 27, 2000, shows phytoplankton covering vast stretches of water. Phytoplankoton are microscopic plants that form the base of the marine food chain.

The green water on the left features a high concentration of phytoplankton. On the right, off the west coast of Alaska, a bloom of a specific type of phytoplankton, coccolithophores, appears bright blue-green. Coccolithophores have white calcium-rich shells that reflect sunlight and brighten the water. The coccolithophore shells—coccoliths—have persisted in the Bering Sea since 1997, but appear to be fading.

Metadata

  • Sensor

    OrbView-2/SeaWiFS

  • Visualization Date

    2000-06-27