Dust Blowing Off Coast of Mauritania and Western Sahara – January 29th, 2012

Dust from the Sahara Desert blows off the coast of Western Sahara and Mauritania and over the Atlantic Ocean. This giant crescent-shaped dust plume spans several hundred kilometers. Here, the dust appears to be blowing southwestward off the coast of Mauritania, but northwestward off the coast of Western Sahara.

Visible through the veil of dust is the Bay of Arguin, or Banc d’Arguin, is a bay on the Atlantic shore of Mauritania. It is south of Cap Blanc, north of Cap Timiris, and contains the islands of Arguin and Tidra. The bay contains the 12,000 km² Banc d’Arguin National Park. - EOSnap