As witnesses look down on the turquoise water following hurricane Laura, they are treated to a fabulous array that honestly appears to be just like the footprint of a miniature hurricane on the water.
“The swirling motion of eddies has other benefits as well,” NOAA explains on their website. “They can cause nutrients to appear that will usually only be found in the colder and deeper water. This eddy causes them to come to the surface. Although Hurricane Laura did a lot of damage, it did leave this appealing force of nature behind for us to admire.”
As we can see here, the phytoplankton (small ocean plants) will feed on the water and they will cause these nutrients to color the water an eye-appealing shade of blue or green. This is what makes it loo so beautiful”
Commercial helicopter pilot Brian Kasch was also treated to this unique array as he went on his aerial tour over Key West. “There were some crazy colors just a couple days after Tropical Storm (now Hurricane) Laura touched down the keys,” he wrote.
Indeed, Laura was getting dangerous when it passed through Key West, but it was not designated as a hurricane yet. It wasn’t until it rumbled on its way to Texas and Louisiana that it was upgraded.
“Much like hurricanes, significant eddies are given names,” the NOAA said. “We usually follow a chronological and organized pattern based on the alphabet. The staff members at Horizon Marine are usually ones to decide on them.”
One of the most well-known eddies was formed in the Gulf of Mexico, and they named it Eddy Franklin, simply because Benjamin Franklin was actually also an accomplished oceanographer and did research on the Gulf Stream.
It’s truly fascinating what Mother Nature can do, and this is just a small reminder of that.