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Phytoplankton Bloom Coloring Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain

Like plant life on land, phytoplankton in the water flourishes under just the right conditions. For phytoplankton in Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain, those conditions include a combination of ample sunlight and nutrients, a long stretch of warm weather, and calm winds. Blooms of phytoplankton appeared in Lake Pontchartrain several times in March 2018. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired this image of a colorful bloom on March 3, 2018..Lake Pontchartrain and other nearby lakes and inlets compose a huge estuary east of the Mississippi Delta; collectively they drain an area spanning 4,600 square miles. Unusually warm temperatures in February and March helped spur the early spring bloom shown above, even before nutrients from the Upper Mississippi could pour into the region. NASA/UPI

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