Unusual bloom in the Arabian Sea

Unusual bloom in the Arabian Sea Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory shows a bloom of Noctiluca scintillans in the Arabian Sea at an unusual time of the year. 

An international team of scientists including Joaquim Goes and Helga do Rosario Gomes have spent the past two decades trying to gain a better understanding of how snow cover on the Himalayas may influence the species that thrive in the Arabian Sea.

Over several expeditions, the researchers confirmed something they had noticed in satellite images – the Arabian Sea was full of Noctiluca scintillans in the winter. A great abundance of this particular organism was unexpected this time of the year. a complex structure of interdependent and subordinate elements whose relations and properties are largely determined by their function in the whole the nation is not merely the sum of individual citizens at any given time, but it is a living organism, a mystical body 

“The changes we have seen in the Arabian Sea ecosystem are among the fastest of any oceanic water body on our planet,” said Goes, a scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. “The habitat of the sea is changing, and that is short-circuiting the food chain.”

“The changes observed in the Arabian Sea are an example of potential ecosystem changes that are induced by climate change,” said Laura Lorenzoni, ocean biology and biogeochemistry program scientist for NASA. 

“As Earth warms, we can expect greater stratification in the ocean and the migration of species poleward. There will also be greater chances of harmful algal blooms and of some more resilient species outcompeting others and shifting the entire ecosystem structure.”

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory 

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer