A spectacular cluster of marine filaments depicted the Sentinel3-OLCI satellite chlorophyll-a concentration image on Sunday 27th April. The image showing below is reproduced from the STREAM digital service which enables free, fast and easy access to satellite data on personal mobiles. Funded by the Space Research Fund of Xjenza Malta, STREAM is led by Professor Aldo Drago from the Oceanography Section of the Malta College for Arts, Science & Technology, in collaboration with two Maltese SMEs, MST AudioVisuals Ltd and THINK Design Ltd. 

While such filaments are not uncommon in the stretch of sea south of Sicily, often disentangling in octopus-shaped cross-shore streaks, and reaching at times in close proximity to the Maltese Islands, the simultaneous occurrence of several filaments together is quite rare. The filaments carry the signature of biologically active water bodies, acting like spreading food for fish, and hence providing an excellent tracer for prolific fishing grounds. They are dynamic features carrying richer biogeochemical properties within spreading and advected water structures, moving like a stream within the boundaries of physically different surrounding waters.   

With the STREAM mobile app, this kind of operational pixel-based data is now available on popular media and is freely available also to the non-experts, providing important individualised, on-demand information on the sea around us, in just a few clicks on a personal device. The STREAM service can be accessed on the web or by installing on mobiles for Android, and for iOS.

Information and image source: Prof Aldo Drago, Oceanography Section - The Malta College for Arts, Science & Technology.