Caitlin Stier, contributor
The Bassas da India atoll is a ring-shaped coral reef surrounding a shallow lagoon that lies about midway between Mozambique and Madagascar. Normally it looks like a calm, turquoise oasis in the inky blue waters of the Indian Ocean.
But sunlight glinting off the water and into the camera of an astronaut aboard the International Space Station has given it a much frothier appearance.
Currents appear as dark streaks in the ocean offset by the calm shiny surface of the lagoon. Cresting waves surround the reef.
At high tide, the waters of the Indian Ocean engulf the atoll, making Bassas da India inhospitable to vegetation and people.