Produced by: Manoj Kumar
Noctiluca scintillans, a glowing dinoflagellate, now dominates Gulf blooms, signaling ecosystem stress.
What satellites see as dazzling green ribbons are blooms linked to oxygen loss and marine death.
Seasonal winds stir nutrient-rich upwelling, once fueling life—but now feeding disruptive invaders.
Noctiluca blooms die and sink, sucking oxygen from the water and triggering mass fish deaths.
Diatoms vanish, copepods drop, jellyfish rise—collapsing the base of regional marine life.
Once rich in finfish, the Gulf now yields less, threatening food security across multiple nations.
The Gulf feeds into the Strait of Hormuz—where ecological decline meets global shipping lanes.
Rising ocean stratification and warming create ideal Noctiluca conditions, scientists warn.
The beauty from space hides devastation below—an ocean shifting from life-rich to life-starved.