Barents Sea algal bloom, satellite image. Algal blooms are formed by the rapid multiplying of phytoplankton, microscopic marine plants that drift on or near the surface of the sea, sustained by sunlight. The variations in color are caused by different species and concentrations of phytoplankton, mainly coccolithophores and diatoms. The Barents Sea is a shallow sea sandwiched between the coastline of northern Russia and Scandinavia and the islands of Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, and Novaya Zemlya. Phytoplankton blooms are common in the Barents Sea in the summer, after the winter ice has receded. Image obtained on 31 August 2010, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite |