page_title: Tongue of the Ocean
hierarchical_section_title: Tongue of the Ocean
caption_attribution_description: NASA image acquired January 17, 2001 Though the above image may resemble a new age painting straight out of an art gallery in Venice Beach, California, it is in fact a satellite image of the sands and seaweed in the Bahamas. The image was taken by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) instrument aboard the Landsat 7 satellite. Tides and ocean currents in the Bahamas sculpted the sand and seaweed beds into these multicolored, fluted patterns in much the same way that winds sculpted the vast sand dunes in the Sahara Desert. Image courtesy Serge Andrefouet, University of South Florida Instrument: Landsat 7 - ETM+ Credit: NASA/GSFC/Landsat NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt; Join us on &lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;
context_page_description: The Tongue of the Ocean is the name of a region of much deeper water in the Bahamas separating the islands of Andros and New Providence.
context_section_description: The Tongue of the Ocean (TOTO) is the name of a region of much deeper water in the Bahamas separating the islands of Andros and New Providence.
caption: Underwater dunes, Bahamas. Tongue of the Ocean is just above this closeup.  Photo: NASA
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