SeaWIFS Phytoplankton around the Galapagos Islands in May 1998
SeaWiFS documented the rapid demise of El Niño in the waters around the Galapagos Islands. The images show a explosion in plankton growth as the warm El Niño waters blamed for choking off essential ocean nutrients are replaced by deep cold upwelled waters. The false color images, which document plankton concentrations a period from May 9, 1998 to May 31, 1998, show that life in the region to the west archipelago has returned in remarkable abundance. High concentrations are shown red and low concentrations in blue. Areas occluded by clouds are shown in white. A relief image of the Galapagos islands has been superimposed on the images to clarify the location of the islands.
Phytoplankton concentrations around the Galapagos Islands for May 9, May 18, May 22, and May 24, 1998 from SeaWIFS showing the dramatic return of sea life at the end of El Niño

Phytoplankton concentrations around the Galapagos Islands for May 9, 1998 from SeaWIFS

Phytoplankton concentrations around the Galapagos Islands for May 18, 1998 from SeaWIFS

Phytoplankton concentrations around the Galapagos Islands for May 22, 1998 from SeaWIFS

Phytoplankton concentrations around the Galapagos Islands for May 24, 1998 from SeaWIFS

Phytoplankton concentrations around the Galapagos Islands for May 29, 1998 from SeaWIFS. This image was not used in the animation.

Phytoplankton concentrations around the Galapagos Islands for May 31, 1998 from SeaWIFS. This image was not used in the animation.

Phytoplankton concentrations around the Galapagos Islands for May 10, 1998, from SeaWiFS

Phytoplankton concentrations around the Galapagos Islands for May 19, 1998, from SeaWiFS

Phytoplankton concentrations around the Galapagos Islands for May 23, 1998, from SeaWiFS

Phytoplankton concentrations around the Galapagos Islands for May 25, 1998, from SeaWiFS

Video slate image reads "Galapagos Zoom May 1998".
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Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFS Project and GeoEye, Scientific Visualization Studio. NOTE: All SeaWiFS images and data presented on this web site are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with GeoEye (NOTE: In January 2013, DigitalGlobe and GeoEye combined to become DigitalGlobe).
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Animators
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)
- Marte Newcombe (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
- Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC)
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Scientist
- Gene Feldman (NASA/GSFC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Thursday, June 11, 1998.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:59 PM EDT.
Series
This page can be found in the following series:Datasets used
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[SeaStar: SeaWiFS]
ID: 100NOTE: All SeaWiFS images and data presented on this web site are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with GeoEye
Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFS Project and GeoEye, Scientific Visualization Studio. NOTE: All SeaWiFS images and data presented on this web site are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with GeoEye (NOTE: In January 2013, DigitalGlobe and GeoEye combined to become one DigitalGlobe.).
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