Why does the ocean look blue?

Question

If you scoop up some seawater in a glass it is transparent with no color. Why does it look blue if looking into the ocean?

Answer 1

Previous respondant -

lakes can look very blue. Come to New Zealand and take a look.

Bodies of water reflect the sky, but the blueness can be altered by plant life, the sea bottom (white coral sand can make a beautiful torquoise color).

As far as the Pacific being green, it depends on where you are. Since carbon dioxide dissolves better in cold water, there is more microscopic plantlife in cold seas, so they appear green.

The tropical waters are so clear, because the warm waters do not support microscopic, free-floating plants. Plantlife in tropical waters exist by forming a symbiotic relationship with and within coral. The coral is an animal - breathes oxygen and exhales carbon dioxide. It thus provides the CO2 for plantlife that is otherwise missing from tropical waters.

Answer 2

The ocean reflects the color of the sky, but even on cloudless days the color of the ocean is not a consistent blue. Phytoplankton, microscopic plant life that floats freely in the lighted surface waters, may alter the color of the water. When a great number of organisms are concentrated in an area, the plankton changes the color of the ocean surface. This is called a "bloom."

Answer 3

Because the Ocean reflects the sky's colour. The sky on the other hand is blue because water vapour in the air refracts light so the blue part of the spectrum is visible.
This is why on a stormy day, the Ocean looks gray or blackish.

Answer 4

In addition to some of the above:
The Red Sea often looks red because of red algae that live in this sea.
The Black Sea looks almost black because it has a high concentration of hydrogen sulfide
Obviously the ocean looks blue, because it absorbs other wavelengths (read colors) and scatters the blue wavelength.

Read the source below for an interesting view.

Answer 5

Wavelengths of light pass through matter differently depending on the material’s composition. Blue wavelengths are transmitted to greater depths of the ocean, while red wavelengths are absorbed quickly. Water molecules scatter blue wavelengths by absorbing the light waves, and then rapidly reemitting the light waves in different directions. That is why there are mostly blue wavelengths that are reflected back to our eyes.

Answer 6

If it's as simple as reflection of the sky then why aren't lakes blue? Why is the Pacific Ocean green?

Answer 7

It is reflecting the blue of the sky.. What is weird to me is that the shallows are greenish, But the deeper waters are blue.. Very cool

God bless & Hugs from Texas. {:-)
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Answer 8

That is because of the coral reef
and some percent because of the algae in water
In india the water is never blue its all green.

Answer 9

its just because it is reflecting the blue sky above it.

Answer 10

See answers above. And if you want to see a thread on why the sky is blue see below.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AutXqtMiEWEZ4_wn0lsoC3IezKIX?qid=20060626194426AApEhaD