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It’s a true blue natural phenomenon.
In the wake of developing a “mutant” second arm, this year’s Super El Niño weather system is also apparently changing the face of the Pacific Ocean.
Satellite images from NASA show that over the past year, the water color around the equatorial band of the Pacific has changed dramatically from verdant green to Cerulean blue.
This shift is a predictable and direct consequence of El Niño conditions, which develop when weakened trade winds allow unusually warm water to build across the central and eastern tropical Pacific.
“Some people think of water as being just blue, but it’s amazing the multitude of colors the ocean can be,” said Matthew Kehrli, a lead research scientist for the PACE satellite team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
According to Kehrli, much of that variety comes from phytoplankton, microscopic organisms that anchor the marine food web and tint the water teal, brown, and green.
These phytoplankton depend on cool, nutrient-dense waters to flourish. However, El Niño suppresses the upwelling of this nutrient-laden water.
Starved of essential nutrients, phytoplankton populations drop sharply, taking their respective hues with them.
In a side-by-side comparison, satellite images from 2025 show the area awash in green, while the most recent data show the area around the equator has turned an all-encompassing blue.
El Niño is part of a natural climate pattern known as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
Alternating roughly every two to seven years, this cycle swings between a warmer El Niño period and a cooler La Niña phase.
During an El Niño event, unusually warm waters build up across the equatorial Pacific off South America’s coast, raising global temperatures and disrupting weather worldwide.
Scientists have been sounding the alarm that we are entering the opening stages of a major El Niño cycle, which could have devastating effects throughout 2027.
Since 1950, researchers tracking ocean temperature anomalies have recorded only five strong El Niños and five very strong ones.
This month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says there’s an 83% chance the strongest El Niño in the last 75 years is upon us.
Stronger El Niño events increase the chances of weather typically associated with the phenomenon, including heavy rain, flooding, powerful waves, and coastal erosion.
One of the best-known indicators of El Niño is above-average seawater temperatures, and temps in the eastern Pacific are already roughly 3 degrees above the long-term average, and scientists warn they could warm another fraction of a degree in the coming months.
The developing El Niño pattern, along with powerful oceanic Kelvin waves, can temporarily raise sea levels by up to 12 inches, increasing the risk of coastal flooding when powerful surf and high tides hit vulnerable communities.
In advance of these threats, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency last month.
“The emerging El Niño event is already breaking records, and forecasters expect it to continue to strengthen, potentially becoming the strongest in recorded history,” Newsom’s office said
Beyond rising tides and warmer waters, El Niño is also bringing unusual visitors to shore; California’s coastal waters are filling with whale sharks, hammerheads, and even venomous sea snakes.