Images
April 13, 2025 - Bloom off the US East Coast
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Swirls of jewel-toned colors decorated the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the Mid-Atlantic United States in early April 2025. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of the iridescent bloom on April 9.
The bright colors marked the presence of a large floating colony of phytoplankton— microscopic, plant-like organisms that live in smaller numbers in these waters year-round. When conditions are favorable, the organisms can reproduce explosively to create massive “blooms” that can easily be seen from space.
Closer to the shore, green and tan tones mark sediment that appears to have washed into the Atlantic, likely by strong winds and rain from recent stormy weather. Tan sediment nearly fills the large Chesapeake Bay and the smaller Delaware Bay, both of which feed into the Atlantic Ocean. Such ssediment can supply nutrients—contained in the runoff from farms and urban and suburban areas—that help to fuel large blooms.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 4/9/2025
Resolutions:
1km (361.1 KB), 500m (982.4 KB), 250m (2.5 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Swirls of jewel-toned colors decorated the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the Mid-Atlantic United States in early April 2025. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of the iridescent bloom on April 9.
The bright colors marked the presence of a large floating colony of phytoplankton— microscopic, plant-like organisms that live in smaller numbers in these waters year-round. When conditions are favorable, the organisms can reproduce explosively to create massive “blooms” that can easily be seen from space.
Closer to the shore, green and tan tones mark sediment that appears to have washed into the Atlantic, likely by strong winds and rain from recent stormy weather. Tan sediment nearly fills the large Chesapeake Bay and the smaller Delaware Bay, both of which feed into the Atlantic Ocean. Such ssediment can supply nutrients—contained in the runoff from farms and urban and suburban areas—that help to fuel large blooms.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 4/9/2025
Resolutions:
1km (361.1 KB), 500m (982.4 KB), 250m (2.5 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
