The deep ocean waters normally release large amounts of carbon dioxide. This animation shows how the tiny plants can lock up carbon when they die. The 1997-98 El Nino was truly a global event. The sequence shows a superposition of sea surface temperature anomalies on anomalies of the sea surface elevation. Warmer than normal temperatures are shown in red and cooler than normal temperatures are shown in blue.
Plankton are lowest rungs on the oceanic food chain.
The SeaWiFS instrument detects subtle differences in ocean color and is to determine the concentrations of chlorophyll found in plankton. This is NOT a finished production and contains no narration.