Phytoplankton are the base of ocean food webs, like grass on the prairie. When nutrients and sunlight are plentiful, microscopic phytoplankton cells develop huge population explosions called blooms. Some blooms are so massive that they tint the water and can be seen from space, as in this satellite image of a bloom between New Zealand's North and South Islands. Different colors swirling in the ocean−white, green, and brown−are likely due to different kinds of phytoplankton, including diatoms. (NASA Ocean Color Group)[back]
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