Louisiana Master Naturalists of Greater New Orleans

TALK REGISTRATION: Register for this talk on LUMCON website
Title : “Why are there colors in the ocean?”
Talk Description: The color of ocean water provides us tremendous insights regarding the properties of the particles in the water. For example, using satellites that sense ocean color, we can monitor the worldwide concentration of phytoplankton—tiny organisms in the water column that produce food for everything else in the ocean to eat. That ocean water has color, however, is precisely what is holding us back from unveiling the colors of everything else, i.e., the colors of the ocean flora, fauna, and the unique habitats that host them. Why does anything in the ocean have color, if that color is to be masked by the color of the water? What would we learn if we could survey the true colors of everything in the ocean? Today I will tell you what’s holding us back from doing that.