An amazing oceanic vortex of phytoplankton

From Bad Astronomer comes this intriguing satellite image of a whirlpool of phytoplankton in the ocean off the southern tip of Africa, by NASA's Terra satellite.

Make sure you check out some of the other photos from Terra.

Back to the whirlpool - Phil Plait reckons it looks like an ear.

Yeah - or a Bermuda Triangle-like ship-swallowing vortex into a submerged Stargate!