Ocean Color Image Gallery

Phytoplankton in the Sea of Marmara

Aqua-MODIS recorded faint golden-colored filamentous features in the Sea of Marmara on April 27th, 2013. Features such as these have been identified in other satellite images as possible Trichodesmium blooms. Those cyanobacteria are not known to be native to the region, but a recent report lists the species as being present as an alien in the neighboring Aegean Sea.

Note that information from the field now indicates that these are blooms of Noctiluca scintillans, a dinoflagellate.

Clicking on the above image will get you a larger view of the region including the western Black Sea with prominant plumes of sediment laden water emerging from the Danube River delta.