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Phytoplankton in the Tasman Sea

NASA Earth Observatory

Nov 18, 2016
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2016-11-17 00:00:00
November 17, 2016

When the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this natural-color satellite image on November 17, 2016, phytoplankton swirled off the coast of Australia. The bloom gave parts of the Tasman Sea a lighter shade of blue. Like land-based plants, phytoplankton require sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow.

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NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using MODIS data from LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response . Caption by Adam Voiland.

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2016-11-17 00:00:00

November 17, 2016

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