14 DAY TRIAL // Analysis of data sent back to Earth by the NASA Suomi NPP satellite has revealed a night city in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The “metropolis” is made up of a multitude of boats fishing for a species of short-finned squids called Illex argentinus.
Observing this unconventional settlement was made possible by the tremendous sensitivity of the Suomi Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument.
The boat concentration lies around 300 to 500 kilometers (200 to 300 miles) off the coasts of Argentina, and spreads along a series of invisible borders separating territorial waters and the exclusive economic zones of both Argentina and the Falkland Islands.
The night city is also over-imposed on the Malvinas Current, which brings a lot of nutrients along the edge of the South American continental shelf. These conditions allow fishermen to make the most out of their fishing trips.
“Squid aggregate in high concentrations at the shelfbreak because it is a very productive area during austral spring and summer,” explains Argentinian Hydrographic Service biological oceanographer, Marina Marrari.