nature, Photography

Bright Green Ocean

26 Comments

The night ocean here in the tropics in particular can often look phosphorescent green, something many people may find surprising.

The colour is caused by phytoplankton, tiny organisms that grow near the surface of the ocean and like plants, get their energy from sunlight.

This green tint is more visible at night (and to cameras, since they “see” more colours at that end of the spectrum). Unfortunately, climate change is affecting the growth of phytoplankton and we are seeing much more phosphorescence at night than we should be.

However, here’s a more conventional ocean view together with a soothing sound track of those ocean rollers:

Happy Friday.

26 thoughts on “Bright Green Ocean”

  3. Wonderful sound. And beautiful phosphorescence.

    Climate change will affect everything, even the innocent creatures that will suffer the most. But despite their suffering they will adapt much better than we will.

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  6. Not sure how many think man has no effect on the Earth. It is great to see these sights and think how best to keep them for future generations. Happy Friday Lynette. Allan

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    1. Thanks, Allan.

      I don’t understand it either. My little opinion is that it’s denial in order to escape responsibility or having to change behaviours. I remember similar arguments around smoking when the non-smoking areas started to outnumber and then eliminate indoor smoking. The tortured and pretzelled thinking around that issue was amazing. I just hope we can turn this around, but I’m not counting on it.

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    1. I’ve never seen it this pronounced before (I have seen it at night from an aircraft vantage point) on a beach. The white surf was definitely tinted quite green as you can see from the photos. It’s a normal phenomenon but climate scientists are now becoming worried that there’s too much of it which will interfere with ocean chemical balance.

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