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What makes the Caribbean ocean blue?

The ocean is blue because water absorbs colors in the red part of the light spectrum. Like a filter, this leaves behind colors in the blue part of the light spectrum for us to see. The ocean may also take on green, red, or other hues as light bounces off of floating sediments and particles in the water.



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“The Caribbean sea is so clear and blue because it has little presence of plankton – or other substances – and it's relatively shallow so most of the light is reflected. As a result, we see beautiful clear blue water. Water gets its color from the interaction of sunlight with water and the substances in the water.”

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The water is clear due to the absence of plankton and suspended particles. Plankton is the base of the food web in all oceans and, because there is little plankton in the tropics, tropical ocean water is nearly sterile in comparison with the fertile waters of the temperate oceans.

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The ocean is blue because water absorbs colors in the red part of the light spectrum. Like a filter, this leaves behind colors in the blue part of the light spectrum for us to see. The ocean may also take on green, red, or other hues as light bounces off of floating sediments and particles in the water.

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The ocean is blue because water absorbs colors in the red part of the light spectrum. Like a filter, this leaves behind colors in the blue part of the light spectrum for us to see. The ocean may also take on green, red, or other hues as light bounces off of floating sediments and particles in the water.

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Exuma, specifically Specifically, the bluest waters of the Caribbean is said to be at Tropic of Cancer Beach on the island of Exuma in the Bahamas. Its long sweeping sandbar is flanked by an eager shoreline expressing every gradient of blue. On a clear day at this Exuma beach, it looks like the sea flows into the sky.

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The Weddell Sea has been claimed by scientists to have the clearest waters of any ocean in the world. Described by a historian as “the most wretched and dismal region on earth”, due to the flash freezes that caught Shackleton's ship, its clarity is only belied by the sheer depth of the ocean below.

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The vast majority of the Caribbean does not have a problem with clean drinking water, but on most islands you wouldn't want to drink it anyway because it's produced from desalinization plants and doesn't taste very good. So most people just drink bottled water, which I recommend.

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Because the tropics have warm surface water, even in the winter, the thermocline never goes away, and the nutrients stay trapped down below in the depths. So even with ample sunlight, phytoplankton growth is severly limited. In the tropics, predators like coral make good use of what little plankton there is.

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A deep blue colored wave viewed from the water surface near Encinitas, California, United States. The Pacific Ocean contains some of the most deep blue colored waters in the world.

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In tropical regions, such as the Caribbean, the average seawater temperature is around 79-82 °F (26-28 °C), while in more temperate regions, such as the Mediterranean, the average water temperature is around 64-72 °F (18-22 °C).

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Where To Find The Bluest Waters in Europe
  • Elafonisi, Crete. The island of Elafonisi in Crete, Greece is often referred to as the Maldives of the Mediterranean. ...
  • Croatia. ...
  • Sardinia, Italy. ...
  • The Balearic Islands, Spain. ...
  • Turkey. ...
  • The Azores, Portugal. ...
  • Corsica, France. ...
  • The Algarve, Portugal.


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Where to Find the Bluest Water in the World
  1. Egremni Beach, Greece. ...
  2. Manini'owali Beach, Big Island, Hawaii. ...
  3. French Polynesia. ...
  4. Nassau, Bahamas. ...
  5. Palawan, Philippines. ...
  6. Grote Knip Beach, Curacao. ...
  7. Trunk Bay, St. ...
  8. Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia.


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