Pacific white line
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Pacific White Line is a periodic but random natural feature in the Pacific Ocean. It is a huge collection of fish, foam and algae that usually occurs between January and August. When conditions are right it can be seen from space.[1]
Formation
The white line is formed because the currents bring fresh, cool and nutritious water loaded with minerals from the depths of the ocean to the surface. When this occurs, it moves west along the surface, with a 70-metre zone of cool water and a 40-metre zone of warm water, that has been subducted under the cold water leading to a lot of turbulence quite often. When these conditions are present tiny algae called Rhizosolenia, part of the diatom family, begin to flourish. No thicker than two or three times the width of a human hair, they pile up ahead of the line as it moves west. They breed once a day to form baby diatomettes and this creates a very localized food source, that all the fish are attracted to. The white color of the line is caused by the huge collection of diatoms, the cooler water and the whitecaps, formed by the turbulence in the water.[1]