Turquoise halo around the Chatham Islands reveals a phytoplankton bloom shaped by an underwater plateau

NASA’s VIIRS-equipped NOAA-20 satellite captured a bright turquoise ring around New Zealand’s Chatham Islands, caused by a summer phytoplankton bloom whose pattern is shaped by the long underwater Chatham Rise. The surface view shows how light, nutrients, currents and seafloor geography create the halo, but scientists still need direct water sampling to identify the species and confirm the exact drivers; blooms like this can influence the wider marine ecosystem around the islands.