Images
June 13, 2025 - Bright Bloom and Sea Ice Under Smoky Skies off of Greenland
Tweet
Throughout May and June 2025, NASA satellites observed hints of a phytoplankton bloom off the coast of southeast Greenland. Clouds prevented optical sensors from getting a clear view on most days, but by early June, there was another culprit: wildfire smoke.
Just a small bit of the bright bloom coloring the Denmark Strait is visible in this true-color image acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on June 11. Swirls of sea ice also cling to the eastern coast of Greenland and float freely in the Denmark Strait, adding to the difficulty of visualizing the bloom. The western coast of Iceland can be seen peaking out from heavy cloud cover along the eastern side of the Denmark Strait.
A bloom is essentially an abundance of phytoplankton—tiny, plant-like organisms that often float near the ocean surface. Phytoplankton fuel the ocean by feeding other plankton, fish, and ultimately bigger creatures. They also play a key role in the carbon cycle and produce oxygen.
The type of phytoplankton present in this bloom cannot be identified based on this natural-color image alone. It might contain coccolithophores, which are plated with white calcium carbonate that can give the ocean a milky hue. It could also contain diatoms, a microscopic form of algae with silica shells and plenty of chlorophyll, a green pigment involved in photosynthesis.
The colorful blooms appear hazy in places due to smoke from wildland fires burning in Canada’s boreal forests. On multiple occasions in late May, intense blazes in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia generated pyrocumulonimbus (PyroCb) clouds. These towering features, powered by the heat of fires, generate strong convective updrafts that can pull smoke into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, allowing jet stream winds to transport it widely.
While much of the smoke visible over the Denmark Strait was likely cruising high above the ocean, it’s possible that some of the heavier particles from the pulses of smoke in recent weeks settled onto the ocean. Previous research indicates that certain nutrients found in particles of wildland fire smoke—such as nitrogen and iron—have helped amplify blooms in the Arctic Ocean and Southern Ocean.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 6/11/2025
Resolutions:
1km (1.1 MB), 500m (3.1 MB), 250m (5.9 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Throughout May and June 2025, NASA satellites observed hints of a phytoplankton bloom off the coast of southeast Greenland. Clouds prevented optical sensors from getting a clear view on most days, but by early June, there was another culprit: wildfire smoke.
Just a small bit of the bright bloom coloring the Denmark Strait is visible in this true-color image acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on June 11. Swirls of sea ice also cling to the eastern coast of Greenland and float freely in the Denmark Strait, adding to the difficulty of visualizing the bloom. The western coast of Iceland can be seen peaking out from heavy cloud cover along the eastern side of the Denmark Strait.
A bloom is essentially an abundance of phytoplankton—tiny, plant-like organisms that often float near the ocean surface. Phytoplankton fuel the ocean by feeding other plankton, fish, and ultimately bigger creatures. They also play a key role in the carbon cycle and produce oxygen. The type of phytoplankton present in this bloom cannot be identified based on this natural-color image alone. It might contain coccolithophores, which are plated with white calcium carbonate that can give the ocean a milky hue. It could also contain diatoms, a microscopic form of algae with silica shells and plenty of chlorophyll, a green pigment involved in photosynthesis.
The colorful blooms appear hazy in places due to smoke from wildland fires burning in Canada’s boreal forests. On multiple occasions in late May, intense blazes in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia generated pyrocumulonimbus (PyroCb) clouds. These towering features, powered by the heat of fires, generate strong convective updrafts that can pull smoke into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, allowing jet stream winds to transport it widely.
While much of the smoke visible over the Denmark Strait was likely cruising high above the ocean, it’s possible that some of the heavier particles from the pulses of smoke in recent weeks settled onto the ocean. Previous research indicates that certain nutrients found in particles of wildland fire smoke—such as nitrogen and iron—have helped amplify blooms in the Arctic Ocean and Southern Ocean.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 6/11/2025
Resolutions:
1km (1.1 MB), 500m (3.1 MB), 250m (5.9 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
