NASA Satellite Images Show Huge Colored Plumes Staining the Ocean

NASA satellites captured large green, turquoise, and brown plumes off the Mid-Atlantic coast in early April.

Scientists say the colors likely come from phytoplankton blooms mixed with sediments, river outflow, and spring-storm disturbance.

The bloom appears to include both diatoms and coccolithophores, offering clues about changing coastal ocean conditions.

These ocean-color observations help track ecosystem health, nutrient cycles, carbon uptake, oxygen production, and water clarity.