Photoplankton Bloom by New Zealand

Credit: Jeff Schmaltz; MODIS team; NASA, Posted on: Tuesday, 8 January 2008, 07:43 CST Download full size image

The MODIS on the Terra satellite captured this image of a phytoplankton bloom off of New Zealand, on January 4, 2007. This particular bloom is just east of the South Island of New Zealand, right near Christchurch. Christchurch is on the north side of the peninsula that just out into the South Pacific Ocean.

Blue and green swirls of phytoplankton, which are microscopic ocean plants, often bloom in this region, along an ocean circulation feature called the Subtropical Front. The Subtropical Front has enhanced temperature and salinity gradients, which influences the phytoplankton growth in the region.

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