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An Ocean
in Distress

Grande America oil spill off the French Atlantic coast

Captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, this image shows the oil spill from the Grande America vessel about 300 km off the French coast on 12 March 2019. Copernicus Sentinel-1 acquired this radar image of the oil slick, the large, dark patch visible in the centre of the image, stretching about 50 km. Marine vessels are identifiable as smaller white points, which could be those assisting in the clean-up process. Satellite radar is particularly useful for monitoring the progression of oil spills because the presence of oil on the sea surface dampens down wave motion. Since radar basically measures surface texture, oil slicks show up well – as black smears on a grey background.

© Sentinel-1, Copernicus, ESA

THREATS

Accidental or deliberate, operational discharges and spills of oil from ships, offshore platforms, and pipelines, are a visible cause of marine pollution, even from space. Satellites support efforts to sustain oceanic and marine ecological health by tracking marine plastic pollution across the sea surface, and by monitoring oil spills, dissolved organic carbon, coral issues, and thermal pollution.

The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission imaged the oil spill in the Mediterranean following a collision between two merchant ships on Sunday 7 October 2018. The collision caused a fuel leak, resulting in an oil slick about 20 km long.

© Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2018), processed by ESA

Audrey Hasson

Physical oceanographer

Mercator Ocean International
Toulouse, France

Measuring marine litter is still a struggle for the international community. Teams have been working to establish algorithms to operationally measure plastic with satellites. We're also looking at modelling to provide information on the sources, pathways and clusters of plastic in the ocean.
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