A Magnificent Satellite Photo of Bombetoka Bay in Madagascar That Looks Like a Giant Octopus

The U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team captured an absolutely magnificent satellite photo of the northwestern coast of Madagascar where the saline waters of the Mozambique Channel join with the freshwater running through the Betsiboka River to make Bombetoka Bay. This amazing water composition appears from space as a giant purple octopus that envelopes the highly vegetative land.

This image from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite shows Bombetoka Bay just upstream of where it opens up into the Mozambique Channel, which separates Madagascar from Africa to the west. In the image, water is sapphire and tinged with pink where sediment is particularly thick. Dense vegetation is deep green.

Here’s what the area looks like on Google Maps

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

Recent Posts