This image includes Florida; Cuba, the largest island in Caribbean Sea; the Bahamas; and Hispaniola Island. The crystal-clean waters surrounding Cuba, called "the Caribbean pearl," and the Bahamas that were named for the landscape of islands rising from long shoals which look like extending to the end of the world, appear turquoise, bright blue and emerald green. They make a beautiful contrast with the dark blue of the Atlantic (upper right).
The light colored areas north of Cuba are land shelves called the Great Bahama Bank and the Little Bahama Bank, which seem to be supporting Bahamas. These jewel-like waters are due to reflection of strong tropical sun light by white sands on a shallow sea bottom.
This true-color
GLI image was acquired on February 7, 2003. The true-color composite is generated by displaying
GLI spectral channel 13 (678 nm) in red, channel 8 (545 nm) in green, and channel 5 (460 nm) in blue. The colors in a true-color image resemble those seen by the human eye.
Mar. 12, 2003
