When the European Space Agency’s Envisat spacecraft passed over the heart of the island chain on the morning of November 30, 2008, it captured the dramatic image seen to the right. Envisat is the largest environmental satellite ever built and placed in orbit.

The morning was almost entirely free of the usual towering cumulous clouds that are formed through daytime heating and often dot the skies from midday through the evening.

The light blue regions reveal the shallow sea bottom of the Bahama Banks, which are no more than 30 feet (9 metres) in depth.

Underwater cliffs on the edges of the banks are where the water quickly plunges to more than a mile in depth (1,600 metres). These deeper waters show up in dark blue.

The wavy lines of blue are caused by different corals that have adapted to various warm or cool ocean currents.

The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is a collection of about 2,000 cays and several hundred islands that form an archipelago.

The island of Nassau, seen on the left, is home of the capital city of the same name. To the southeast, the Exuma chain is home to the Bahamas National Trust’s Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, one of the largest underwater preserves in the world.

Also visible in the Envisat image is the 110-mile-long island of Eleuthera, which has often been a romantic hideaway for the British Royal Family.

The enlarged image reveals Cat Island, alleged to have been named after buccaneer Arthur Catt, who frequently used the island as a hideaway and place to bury his bounty.

Image source: Chelys