Halo of glowing plankton surrounds NZ’s Chatham Islands, powered by a hidden undersea plateau
A January 2026 satellite image captured a bright halo of coccolithophore phytoplankton circling New Zealand’s Chatham Islands. The bloom is driven by the Chatham Rise, a shallow underwater plateau that channels cold, nutrient-rich waters to the surface, creating ideal conditions for algal blooms in summer. While this natural spectacle highlights the region’s rich marine life, the same hidden bathymetry is linked to deadly cetacean strandings in the area, underscoring how underwater geography shapes both ecosystems and marine hazards.