Ocean Color Image Gallery

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The Bottom of the Food Web at the Bottom of the World

Every summer the waters of the Ross Sea -- pictured above on January 22, 2011 -- host large phytoplankton blooms which eventually, through the food web, feed everything from small krill to whales. Researchers are currently plying those waters in search of the source of the nutrients that, together with the 24-hour sunlight, fuel those blooms.

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