Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
At bottom center of this true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from April 13, 2001, the White Sea in western Russia is becoming free of ice in its southern extent. Meanwhile, the blue-green waters along the coast of the peninsula jutting out into the Barents Sea to the northeast could be due to a phytoplankton bloom.