Blue Ocean Blues

Love that gorgeous blue look of tropical oceans? It may be coming to an ocean near us. A recent satellite study has recorded a dramatic shift in ocean color from various shades of blue green to blue. Why is that important? Blue means fewer phytoplankton and that is how the ocean breathes. These millions of tiny organisms take in CO2 and release O2. That's rather nice for us. And when they're not around, the ocean becomes more acidic and that tends to dissolve important things like corals. Phytoplankton love cold water and don't do well in warm water. Guess what is happening to the oceans, folk? What will those blue oceans mean other than cool vacation photos? Fewer fish. Many fewer fish. The phytoplankton are at the bottom of the ocean food pyramid.

You can read more about ocean color and phytoplankton at one of NASA's sites: http://science.hq.nasa.gov/oceans/living/color.html