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U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers and polar bear sentinels from the Coast Guard icebreaker Healy stand by as scientists take samples of sea ice and underlying seawater properties during NASA's 2011 ICESCAPE cruise in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. To their surprise, scientists discovered a bloom of phytoplankton in presumably dark regions beneath the ice. The scientists concluded that the tourquoise pools of water atop melting ice in summer act like transient skylights and magnifying lenses focusing sunlight into water beneath the ice. (Sam Laney, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)[back]
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