Images
January 30, 2022 - The Florida Straits
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On January 25, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the deep blue waters of the Florida Straits colored in stunning contrast to the peacock-tinted shallows off of the United States, Bahamas, and Cuba. The turquoise tones belong to shallows around the Florida Keys (north), the Great Bahama Bank (east), the Gulf of Batabano south of Cuba, and Bahama’s Cal Say Bank, which sits in the center of the image.
The Florida Straits (also known as the Straits of Florida or Florida Strait) stretches about 100 miles south-southeast of Florida, lying roughly between the Florida Keys and Cuba and between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The strong Florida Current, considered the initial part of the Gulf Stream, runs through the Florida Strait. It passes close to the Florida coastline, only 10 miles offshore of Miami.
Sitting within the edges of the Florida Straits, the Cal Say Bank is separated from Cuba by the Nicholas Channel and from the Great Bahama Bank, off of Andros Island, Bahamas, by the Santaren Channel. The Cal Say Bank is a large, uninhabited atoll made up of about 100 islands and about 484 hectares of land. It is an extremely important area for breeding seabirds, including the world’s largest population of Audubon’s Shearwaters. Other significant populations include Sooty Terns, Bridled Terns, and Brown Noddies. Loggerhead sea turtles also breed on the islands of Cal Say Bank. Some of the islands also host populations of black rats or Norway rats, which are not native to the islands. According to a survey done completed in 2015, seabirds were not found in large numbers on the islands where the rats lived.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 1/25/2022
Resolutions:
1km (312 KB), 500m (842.3 KB), 250m (1.9 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
On January 25, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the deep blue waters of the Florida Straits colored in stunning contrast to the peacock-tinted shallows off of the United States, Bahamas, and Cuba. The turquoise tones belong to shallows around the Florida Keys (north), the Great Bahama Bank (east), the Gulf of Batabano south of Cuba, and Bahama’s Cal Say Bank, which sits in the center of the image.
The Florida Straits (also known as the Straits of Florida or Florida Strait) stretches about 100 miles south-southeast of Florida, lying roughly between the Florida Keys and Cuba and between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The strong Florida Current, considered the initial part of the Gulf Stream, runs through the Florida Strait. It passes close to the Florida coastline, only 10 miles offshore of Miami.
Sitting within the edges of the Florida Straits, the Cal Say Bank is separated from Cuba by the Nicholas Channel and from the Great Bahama Bank, off of Andros Island, Bahamas, by the Santaren Channel. The Cal Say Bank is a large, uninhabited atoll made up of about 100 islands and about 484 hectares of land. It is an extremely important area for breeding seabirds, including the world’s largest population of Audubon’s Shearwaters. Other significant populations include Sooty Terns, Bridled Terns, and Brown Noddies. Loggerhead sea turtles also breed on the islands of Cal Say Bank. Some of the islands also host populations of black rats or Norway rats, which are not native to the islands. According to a survey done completed in 2015, seabirds were not found in large numbers on the islands where the rats lived.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 1/25/2022
Resolutions:
1km (312 KB), 500m (842.3 KB), 250m (1.9 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
