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funnywildlife:

An algae bloom in the shape of an 8 in the South Atlantic Ocean!!

Microscopic algae create a bright blue figure 8 in a new photo snapped by a European Earth-observing satellite.

Photosynthesizing micro-organisms called phytoplankton created the figure 8 in the south Atlantic Ocean, about 360 miles (600 kilometers) east of the Falkland Islands. The European Space Agency’s Envisat spacecraft acquired the image on Dec. 2, 2011.

Such oceanic algal blooms are common in the Southern Hemisphere’s spring and summer, when upwelling brings minerals from deeper waters to the surface, researchers said. Phytoplankton depend on these minerals, and the organisms proliferate as a result.