Why is the water in the Carribean so blue?

Answer 1

The calm blue Gulf Stream. The exotic turquoise Caribbean Sea. The Pacific Ocean reflecting a brilliant coral sunset. Although seawater is usually thought to be deep blue, the world's waterways actually form a rainbow of colours.
The sea appears to be blue for the same reason that the sky looks blue. Sunlight, composed of electro-magnetic radiation ranging in colour from red to blue, is scattered by particles suspended in the water. The shorter blue wavelengths scatter more effectively and are absorbed less quickly than the longer red and orange wavelengths. Seawater appears blue for about 100 feet under the surface although a small percentage of undetectable blue light remains in the water down to the 600 foot level. At about 400 feet, colour becomes indistinguishable and shadows disappear. After 600 feet, light absorption is so complete that the ocean appears black.
Because the sea is a mirror of the sky, clouds or a sunset can further alter the water's colour. An overcast day can change a bright blue lake to a steely grey.
Light absorption explains blue water, but why is the Red Sea red and the Yellow Sea yellow? These colours are caused by microscopic organisms, silt, and mud, suspended in the water.
Near some coastlines, microscopic floating plants exude yellow pigments which turn the normally blue water to green. Some algae release brownish-red pigments, hence the Red Sea. The Yellow Sea owes its hue to mud carried in by its contributing rivers. The colour deepens during floods.
Unlike most bodies of water, the Black Sea is landlocked with only one narrow, shallow outlet connecting it to the Mediterranean Sea, so there is little oxygen in the water except near the surface. This results in a heavy concentration of hydrogen sulphide near the bottom which colours the water black.
Despite the many scientific reasons for the shifting colours of the oceans, the sea and its hues remain a subject of mystery and legend. As seawater changes from serene blue, to vivid aqua, to turbulent black, the sea often seems as moody as the humans who sail its surface.
I'm quoting you what my Encyclopaedia says on the subject.
“Water is faint blue. Although water appears clear in small quantities (like a glass of water), the blue colour becomes visible the more water we look through. Thus, deep lakes and seas are bluer than a shallow river.
Other factors can affect the colour we see:
1. Particles and solutes can absorb light, as in tea or coffee. Green algae in rivers and streams often lend a blue-green colour. The red sea has occasional blooms of red Trichodesmium erythraeum algae.
2. Particles in water can scatter light. The Colorado river is often muddy red because of suspended reddish silt in the water. Some mountain lakes and streams with finely ground rock, such as glacial flour, are turquoise. Light scattering by suspended matter is required in order that the blue light produced by water's absorption can return to the surface and be observed. Such scattering can also shift the spectrum of the emerging photons toward the green, a colour often seen when water laden with suspended particles is observed.
3. The surface of seas and lakes often reflect blue skylight, making them appear bluer. [[[ Montana reflection.]]] The relative contribution of reflected skylight and the light scattered back from the depths is strongly dependent on observation angle.
Water has an intrinsic colour, and this colour has a unique origin. This intrinsic colour is easy to see, as can been seen in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas and in Colorado mountain lakes. Pure water and ice have a pale blue colour, best seen at tropical white-sand beaches and in ice caves in glaciers (green colours are usually derived from algae). It is neither due to light scattering (like the sky), nor dissolved impurities (e.g., Cu2+). Because the absorption which gives water its colour is in the red end of the visible spectrum, one sees blue, the complementary colour of orange, when observing light that has passed through several meters of water. This colour of water can also be seen in snow and ice as an intense blue colour scattered back from deep holes in fresh snow.
Water owes its intrinsic blueness to selective absorption in the red part of its visible spectrum. The absorbed photons promote transitions to high overtone and combination states of the nuclear motions of the molecule, i.e. to highly excited vibrations. To our knowledge the intrinsic blueness of water is the only example from nature in which colour originates from vibrational transitions. Other materials owe their colours to the interaction of visible light with the electrons of the substances. Their colours may originate from resonant interactions between photons and matter such as absorption, emission, and selective reflection or from non-resonant processes such as Rayleigh scattering, interference, diffraction, or refraction, but in each case, the photons interact primarily or exclusively with electrons. The details of the mechanism by which water is vibration ally colored will be discussed in the paragraphs which follow.”
Hope have helped

Answer 2

We are in the Caribbean sea, and right now harbored in the port of Willemsted Curacao, a territory of the Netherlands. There is a very interesting mix of Dutch and the Caribbean. All the buildings have the Dutch architecture but very brightly painted and of course there is much tropical folage. The waters are typicaly deep blue at sea and that incredible turquios when the waves break. At some points you can see 100 feet down. The salinity is very high compared to home, and you can float very easily. Water depths vary; here in port the water is still probably 20' but just 1 mile off shore and it jumps up to 8,000! The Center Beam Sounding regularly shows depths of 3500m. The temperature is probably 75, and very refreshing! I will assume the water does heat up some in the peak summer. The sun is brutal, and sun screen is always requried

Answer 3

Thats BS dude its not a reflection. Sunlight is made up of all the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Some of the sunlight is reflected off the surface of the water, reflecting the color of the sky. Some of the sunlight penetrates the water and is scattered by ripples and particles in the water (this tinges the appearance of the ocean with the color of the particles). In deep water, much of the sunlight is scattered by the oxygen in the water, and this scatters more of the blue light.

Water absorbs more of the red light in sunlight; the water also enhances the scattering of blue light. Sir Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman (an Indian physicist) won the Nobel prize in 1930 for his work on light.

Answer 4

l. a. Romana section is interior the Caribbean part of the island.Punta Cana is a mixture of Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. In l. a. Romana verify out Canoa Coral motel, we stayed there and really like it. beautiful sparkling water and white sand. there have been no rocks or seaweed. Calm water. i like Punta Cana Bavaro coastline section too. each of the inns in this coastline are fantastic. good success s

Answer 5

all pure water is clear and appears blue when it's deep enough. it's not about the sky, it's actually the wavelengths in the color spectrum: blue gets shone to your eye and the others pass through.

Answer 6

Yes, Gulf of Mexico water is brownish, green and rarely blue

Lots of sediments from Mississippi and others

Answer 7

If I'm remembering my Bio class correctly, it's because it's sterile. There aren't any nutrients in the water, so plankton that would make it muddy can't grow.

Answer 8

Less polution is part of it but also the sand is whiter there so the sun reflects off it and makes it very bright.

Answer 9

God's brown and green markers went dry at the time.
{:)

Answer 10

because the sun reflects on the water!!!!