
quick facts
Where is it? The Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea.
What's in the photo? A swirling mass of algae trapped in an ocean vortex.
Which satellite took the photo? Landsat 8.
When was it taken? July 18, 2018.
This striking green spiral emerged in the Baltic Sea during a massive algal bloom in 2018. While the swirling microbes have an ethereal beauty in the image, this belies an unseen danger they brought with them as they created a massive, toxic "dead zone."