Coccolithophore Blooms Paint the Black Sea Turquoise

NASA’s Earth Observatory reports that spring–summer 2026 blooms of coccolithophores tint the Black Sea and the Bosphorus turquoise, a color captured by NASA’s PACE satellite; when diatoms dominate, waters can darken. These blooms are visible from space and contribute to the ocean carbon cycle, as dying coccolithophores transport carbon to the seafloor, with remote sensing aiding bloom-dynamics studies where direct sampling is limited.