19. Icelandic phytoplankton bloom

It’s hard to believe that phytoplankton stand at the bottom of the marine food chain. Incredibly, their blooms can cover hundreds of square miles with the right sun and water conditions. In this case, the microorganisms flourished just off of Iceland in swirling shades of teal, turquoise and green. It may not look like much from the 2014 satellite image, but this particular phytoplankton explosion covered 80 percent of the ocean of the northeastern side of the country.