Ocean Color Image Gallery

Algal Slicks in the Persian Gulf

This view of the southeastern end of the Persian Gulf was collected by Landsat 8 on December 14, 2018. Large algal slicks are visible through the thin cloud cover. These have been confirmed to be the mixotrophic dinoflagellate, Noctiluca scintillans, by local observers. This organism has been dominating the wintertime ecosystem of the adjacent Arabian Sea for over a decade now. Click on the above image to get a much larger version.