A Visible/Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Day/Night Band image of a milky sea near Java, Indonesia from 4 August 2019. This particular milky sea event was observed to last at least 45 days. Northwest Indian Ocean and Maritime Continent Dominate the RecordThe database shows milky seas occur mainly in two regions: the northwest Indian Ocean and the Maritime Continent, the tropical zone between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In summer, milky sea events appear more frequently following La Niña conditions. In winter, more occur at the peak of the positive Indian Ocean Dipole, an oscillation in which sea surface temperatures on the western side of the Indian Ocean run warmer than the east.