Why Do Oceans Change Color?

Imagine you're looking at a big, clear pool. When it's sunny, the water looks blue because the sunlight goes through the water and the blue part stays behind. But when there are lots of tiny things like algae or plankton in the ocean, they make the water look green. The color of the ocean depends on how much light gets absorbed and scattered by what's inside it.

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Examples

  1. When you're at the beach on a sunny day, the ocean looks blue because the sunlight goes through the water and the blue part stays behind.
  2. If there are a lot of tiny green plants in the ocean, like algae, it can look green from above.
  3. Sometimes, when the sun hits the ocean at an angle, it looks like a different color, maybe even turquoise.

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