Advertisement

Pic of the day: Canary Islands 'swimming' in sea

The Local Spain
The Local Spain - [email protected]
Pic of the day: Canary Islands 'swimming' in sea
Photo: Jeff Schmaltz/Lance/Eosdis Modis Rapid Response Team/Nasa

A satellite image of Spain's Canary Islands in which they are appear to be swimming through the silvery Atlantic Ocean is up for a Nasa photo prize.

Advertisement

The 'Trailing the Canaries' image is one of two remaining candidates in the Art Section of Nasa's Tournament Earth 2014 online photo poll.

Captured by the space agency's Terra satellite in June 2013, the photo shows all of Spain's seven Canary Islands.  

"The Atlantic Ocean has a silvery or milky color in much of the image, the result of sunglint," Nasa explains on the competition website.

"Windsock-like tails" can also been seen stretching southwest from the islands. The patterns are the result of "winds roughening or smoothing the water surface in different places", Nasa says.

The volcanic islands of the archipelago act as a "wind shadow", blocking, slowing, and redirecting currents of air.

Fans of the photo can still vote for it to take the Nasa prize until 9pm Friday March 21st.    

Don't miss stories about Spain, join us on Facebook and Twitter.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also