Image

Following the Bloom

June 10, 2014

WHOI physical oceanographer Bob Pickart stepped out onto the Arctic sea ice recently to help a team he is leading that is studying massive phytoplankton blooms below the ice. Until recently, the ice was thought to be too thick to allow light through for the microscopic plants grow. Now, however, the ice cover might be thinning enough to shift the spring bloom to new regions and to earlier in the year, upsetting the Arctic ecosystem. The expedition is currently underway and involves scientists and artists to provide a unique, multidisciplinary look at science, the ocean, and the changing Arctic.(Photo by Amanda Kowalski, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)