Phytoplankton Blooms Near the Cape of Good Hope
Posted December 25, 2000
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Different phytoplankton communities color the ocean different shades of blue and green off the southern coast of South Africa in the December 22, 2000, Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) pass over the area.
The convergence of two currents—the cold Benguela flowing North along the west coast of Africa, and a branch of the warm Agulhas heading west along the southern tip of the continent—causes upwelling cold, nutrient-rich water which feeds. The phytoplankton. The mixing cam also generate huge waves, making these waters very treacherous to sail.
To learn more about the Benguela and Algulhas Currents, read A Clear Day Over the Agulhas Retroflection
Image courtesy SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE