When clouds parted in early June 2026, satellites glimpsed hints of summer’s approach in the Bering Sea off Alaska’s coast.
Sea ice, broken into small fragments, took a few final spins on its way to melting completely, while rivers swollen with snowmelt washed sediment and organic material out to sea.
These images, acquired with theMODIS on NASA’sTerrasatellite on June 3, 2026, capture the seasonal transition.
A false-color view of the area brings out features of the landscape that are more subtle in the natural-color scene, as human eyes would see it.
In false color, the tundra and marsh vegetation appear green, and ice-free rivers andthermokarst lakesare dark blue.
Sea ice and snow, where they still linger, appear light blue.
Amid the seasonal phenomena playing out in the images stand Saint Lawrence and Nunivak islands.
Both havevolcanic originsand are among the largest islands in the United States.
They contain extensive basaltic lava flows forming smallshield volcanoes, along with other features such as cinder cones andmaars, or low-lying volcanic craters.
Saint Lawrence Island lies about 150 miles directly south of the Bering Strait, separating Alaska and the Russian Far East.
It is one of the few pieces of theland bridgethat connected Asia and North America during the Pleistocene that remain above water.
Pack icepersisted along thenortheast sideof the island in early June, while other sea ice drifted and curled into intricate patterns with the winds and currents.
The smaller the ice fragments, the wispier their swirling patterns appear when observed by satellites.
Brownish water, likely containing a mixture ofsuspended sedimentandcolored dissolved organic matter, lines the coast of mainland Alaska.
The colorful water appears to enter the sea around the Yukon Delta, a vast wetland where the Yukon River branches into many circuitous channels.
Sediment concentrationsin this area typically increase starting in late May or early June.
That’s after river ice has broken up andrunofffrom rain and snowmelt carries eroded material downstream.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASAEOSDIS LANCEandGIBS/Worldview. Story by Lindsey Doermann.
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Alaska Volcano Observatory, Nunivak Island. Accessed June 18, 2026.
Chikita, K. A.,et al.Effects of River Discharge and Sediment Load on Sediment Plume Behaviors in a Coastal Region: The Yukon River, Alaska and the Bering Sea. Hydrology, 8, 45.
NASA Earth ObservatoryYukon-Kuskokwim in Colorful Transition. Accessed June 18, 2026.
NASA Earth ObservatorySea Ice in the Bering Strait. Accessed June 18, 2026.
Patton, W.W.,et al.Geologic map of Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3146.
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