In January 2014, the Operational Land Imager on NASA's Landsat 8 satellite captured a series of photos from around South Korea's Sisan Island. The shallow coastal waters were filled with arrays of evenly spaced patches, like plots in a garden. The verdict? It's a seaweed farm.
The Goddard Space Flight Center's Flickr page, where the photos are posted, explains that seaweed farming is pretty popular in South Korea. Seaweed patches are rigged up to ropes and buoys to help them stay put and grow better under the constant fluctuation of the tides. More than 90 percent of the seaweed consumed worldwide is farmed, and more than 90 percent of South Korea's crop, which includes the sushi seaweed known as nori is found off the south coast, where these pictures were taken.
SEE ALSO: 2 massive whales have washed ashore just south of San Francisco
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Scientists have discovered more magma under Yellowstone's supervolcano