Why is Caribbean water so blue?

This MODIS image of blue water in the Caribbean Sea looks blue because the sunlight is scattered by the water molecules. Near the Bahama Islands, the lighter aqua colors are shallow water where the sunlight is reflecting off of the sand and reefs near the surface.



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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 waters around the Bahamas are light blue because the water is shallow. The blue color comes from the absorption of red and green light wavelengths by the water. The blue is reflected to be received by your eyes. The light blue is a response to sunlight reflecting off the sand and corals on the bottom.

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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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Hawaii's ocean water is nutrient deficient. This is common in tropical areas with warm surface water temperatures. A lack of nutrients means there are fewer phytoplankton and algae in Hawaii's water, which makes it more blue.

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The azures, aquas, and turquoises of the shallower depths are what really contribute to the unique Turks and Caicos water and are caused by light reflecting off the white sandy bottoms and off of fine white sand particles that are suspended in the ocean.

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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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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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1. Blue Hole – Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Approximately a two-hour drive from Albuquerque, the sapphire cenote is located in eastern New Mexico in the middle of a desert oasis.

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Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada The snowmelt from these mountains is how Lake Tahoe has some of the freshest water in the world. The water itself is crystal clear, and the tap water sourced from the lake has been voted the number one tasting tap water in the country. And you can swim in it.

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