Life may thrive in the ocean’s extremes, but the marine food web truly flourishes at the lush, sunlit surface.
Phytoplankton, tiny plant-like marine organisms, bloom into vast gardens visible from space, fed by nutrients carried by wind and currents. Scientists measure chlorophyll in seawater to track these enormous, floating blooms.
Like plants on land, phytoplankton absorb gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere— and produce roughly half the oxygen on Earth.
(Map by Natalie Renier, WHOI Creative)
SOURCES
8-day composites of maximum chlorophyll-a concentration (mg m⁻³) at 0.25° resolution spanning January 1, 2022-January 1, 2025 from the Copernicus Marine Service Global Ocean Biogeochemistry Hindcast (product ID: GLOBAL_MULTIYEAR_BGC_001_029). Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information (CMEMS); DOI: 10.48670/moi-00019
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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