Observations From The WUWT Sea Ice Page

Nick Stokes says: August 2, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Here is a movie of Arctic SST over the last 50 days. The warmth in Hudson Bay seems quite recent – started late June. The Barents Sea has been warm through that time. There’s a whole warm patch east of Iceland, and there are times when it seems to be moving as you might expect from the Gulf Stream.
The whole year is shown here. It was fairly warm in the Barents Sea throughout, except for a spell from about March to May. In the year movie, you can see the ice come and go.
These videos:
http://www.moyhu.blogspot.com.au/p/sst-regional-movies-as-described-here-i.html?WxK=31
http://www.moyhu.blogspot.com.au/p/sst-regional-movies-as-described-here-i.html?WxK=27
are very helpful. Firstly we don’t currently have any Arctic Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly maps on the the WUWT Sea Ice Page thus I’ve added links to these two videos to the Sea Ice Page, and may add additional elements to the Ocean page when I have opportunity. Secondly, the animations indicate that there are persistent coastal positive sea surface temperature anomalies in the Arctic for much of the year.

captainfish says: August 2, 2013 at 5:54 pm
captainfish says: August 2, 2013 at 5:55 pm
Popular science says that the blue area is phytoplankton.
…
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-08/big-pic-phytoplankton-bloom-north-atlantic-cold
Khwarizmi says: August 2, 2013 at 9:11 pm
“The milky blue color suggests the presence of coccolithophores, a microscopic plankton plated with white calcium carbonate, which when viewed through ocean water appears bright blue.”
http://e360.yale.edu/slideshow/nasa_images_of_2011/44/5/
So the beautiful blue is just the natural hue of the arctic water.
It definitely seems like it is algea/phytoplankton/coccolithophores, however I don’t know if I agree that “the beautiful blue is just the natural hue of the arctic water.”
These NASA articles offer good insight:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Coccoliths/

During the past two summers (1997-98), a type of one-celled microscopic plant changed the color of the Bering Sea from its natural deep blue to a shimmering aquamarine in a matter of weeks. These plants, known as coccolithophores, produce and then shed hubcap-shaped, limestone (calcite) scales called coccoliths. Like all phytoplankton, the coccolithophores contain chlorophyll, are unicellular and have the tendency to multiply rapidly near the surface of the ocean. Yet, in large numbers, coccolithophores dump tiny white calcite plates by the bucketful into the surrounding waters and completely change its hue. bering sea
The Bering Sea coccolithophores present a unique problem for researchers because a massive bloom of the organisms has never before been observed there. Many believe their arrival in the Bering Sea is yet another sign of a larger transformation in the surrounding ecosystem. The bloom’s presence coincides with lower salmon counts along the coasts, a redistribution of microscopic animals in the surrounding ocean, and the massive deaths of shearwaters–hook billed, surface-feeding seabirds related to the albatross. Together, these events may spell major trouble for the Bering Sea ecosystem and the fisheries that ply these waters.
An Eerie Calm off the Coast of Alaska
The coccolithophore blooms formed primarily above the continental shelf to the west of Alaska. This underwater shelf is roughly the size of California and extends several hundred miles off the Alaskan coast, where it drops off to the floor of the Pacific. At their peak, the scaly plants covered practically the entire area. The only place where coccolithophores didn’t appear was in a 50-mile-wide band off the coast of Alaska.
Map of the Bering Sea
The size of this bloom over the last two years took many scientists by surprise. William Balch, a marine biologist at Bigelow Laboratory in Maine, has spent most of his career studying coccolithophores and their effect on the environment. He said, “The Bering Sea blooms happened at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Given the stormy history of the Bering Sea, the coccolithophores should not be so abundant. Balch explained that most one-celled marine plants (phytoplankton) do not do well in still, lukewarm water. Marine plant “fertilizers,” usually in the form of nitrates, come from deep, cold layers of the ocean and are brought to the surface by strong currents and inclement weather. When the water is calm and warm, the plants do not get these nutrients, so they cannot grow, Balch said.
The coccolithophores are the exception. “They favor temperate conditions where the nutrients have been stripped away,” said Balch. Under normal conditions, the coccolithophores do not compete well with other microscopic plants in nutrient-rich seas. When the competition is diminished by a low food source, the scaly plants have a chance. They usually end up proliferating in areas where the temperature is moderate, the sun is usually out, the water is calm, and the nutrient levels are low.
The problem is that the waters in the Bering Sea do not fit this description. For years they were unsettled and turbid. Diatoms, another single-celled plant that produces a glass (silicate) outer covering, were known to dominate the upper layers of the region. Currents and storms brought plenty of nutrients from the deep waters in the Bering Sea onto the shelf.
The coccolithophore bloom appeared over the continental shelf in the Bering Sea, represented in this map by the light blue off the west coast of Alaska.
Yet over the past two years the coccolithophores have done exceedingly well, and the diatom population has dropped. The concentration of the coccoliths detached from coccolithophores reached nearly 6 million per milliliter over the past two summers. Balch said, “There is some evidence from sediments that coccolithophores have existed in the Bering Sea in the past for brief periods. But recent blooms are unprecedented.”
According to a National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) report of the Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (FOCI) International Workshop on Recent Conditions in the Bering Sea (Stabeno et al. 1998), the environmental conditions there have changed over the last two years. Over the summer months, researchers found fewer nutrients than normal in the upper layers of the Bering Sea and warmer temperatures on the surface of the water.
The report also pointed out a slew of other anomalies in addition to the coccoliths that occurred over the past two years in the Bering Sea. Most notably, the shearwaters began dying, an abnormally low number of salmon returned to the rivers emptying into the Bering Sea, and the distribution of microscopic animals (zooplankton) changed along the coastal waters (NOAA 1998). Common sense suggests that the armor-coated plants must be wreaking havoc on the animal life there. But most researchers have come to the conclusion that the presence of the coccolithophores is just another manifestation of a larger phenomenon. The coccoliths’ impact on the animal life in and around Alaska is actually thought to be of secondary importance.

NASA Article 2:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=51765

Brilliant shades of blue and green explode across the Barents Sea in this natural-color image taken on August 14, 2011, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite. The color was created by a massive bloom of phytoplankton that are common in the area each August. The clear view is a rare treat since the Barents Sea is cloud-covered roughly 80 percent of the time in summer.
Plankton blooms spanning hundreds or even thousands of kilometers occur across the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans every year. Many species thrive in the cooler ocean waters, which tend to be richer in nutrients and plant life than tropical waters.
In this image, the milky blue color strongly suggests that the bloom contains coccolithophores, microscopic plankton that are plated with white calcium carbonate. When viewed through ocean water, a coccolithophore bloom tends to be bright blue. The species is most likely Emiliana huxleyi, whose blooms tend to be triggered by high light levels during the 24-hour sunlight of Arctic summer. The variations in bloom brightness and color in satellite images is partly related to its depth: E. huxleyi, can grow abundantly as much as 50 meters below the surface.
Other colors in the scene may come from sediment or other species of phytoplankton, particularly diatoms. The Barents Sea usually witnesses two major bloom seasons each year, with diatoms peaking in May and June, then giving way to coccolithophores as certain nutrients run out and waters grow warmer and more layered (stratified).
The area in this image is located immediately north of the Scandinavian peninsula. The region is a junction where several ocean current systems—including the Norwegian Atlantic, the Persey, and east Spitsbergen currents—merge and form a front known as the North Cape Current. The intersecting waters, plus stiff winds, promote mixing of waters and of nutrients from the deep.
Ice-covered for most of the year, the shallow Barents Sea reaches its warmest surface temperatures (6.6 C) in August, when ice cover is at a minimum and the water is freshest (less saline due to ice melt and river runoff) and most nutrient depleted. Those conditions, researchers have found, are perfect for coccolithophores to take over from other species and dominate the surface waters.
In a 2009 paper by Signorini et al, the researchers note:
Coccolithophores, among which E. huxleyi is the most abundant and widespread species, are considered to be the most productive calcifying organism on earth. They are important components of the carbon cycle via their contribution and response to changes in atmospheric CO2 levels…Coccolithophores appear to be advancing into some sub-Arctic Seas and climate change induced warming and freshwater runoff may be causing an increased frequency of coccolithophore blooms within the Barents Sea.
NASA recently sponsored a research cruise—known as ICESCAPE—in Arctic waters north of Alaska and Canada. Researchers were sampling coccolithophores there, among other species and environmental characteristics, to get a better view of the Arctic Ocean ecosystems and how they may be changing. The cruise is over, but you can still read the daily postings from six weeks at sea. Click here.
Related Reading
Signorini, S. R., and C. R. McClain (2009), Environmental factors controlling the Barents Sea spring-summer phytoplankton blooms. Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L10604, doi:10.1029/2009GL037695.
NASA Earth Observatory (1999) What is a Coccolithophore?” Accessed August 17, 2011.
NASA (2011) ICESCAPE Blog. Accessed August 17, 2011.

While coccolithophores are natural, “warming and freshwater runoff may be causing an increased frequency of coccolithophore blooms”.

Nick Stokes says: August 4, 2013 at 6:07 pm
Thanks. The corresponding daily (still) information is here. You can rotate, zoom etc.
I’d argue that you are due the thanks for making the information readily available. I’ve also added your website to the Source Guide at the bottom of the Sea Ice Page. Thank you JTF

James At 48 says: August 5, 2013 at 3:34 pm
Is the Russian pollution intentional? There may be military / strategic reasons.
I’ve seen no information or evidence of intent, however the strategic advantages of Arctic Sea Ice decline are apparent, e.g.:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/business/global/16arctic.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.rosneft.com/Upstream/Exploration/arctic_seas/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/21/gazprom-arctic-drilling-delayed_n_1902538.html