English: A spring bloom produced a swirling spin of color in the waters of the Great Australian Bight in November 2020. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of the colorful scene on November 25. The swirl of bright blue indicates an area where pigment-containing microscopic organisms known as phytoplankton have reproduced in vast numbers, creating a bloom so large it can easily be seen from space. With a name derived from the Greek works “phyto” (plant) and “plankton” (made to wander or drift), these plant-like organisms live in watery environments. When conditions are right, phytoplankton populations can grow explosively, a phenomenon known as a bloom. Conditions in the Great Australian Bight frequently cause up upwelling of deep water in certain areas, bringing nutrients from near the ocean floor towards the surface. This creates a feast for the upper-layer floating phytoplankton and may spur blooms centered over the upwelling.