Why is the ocean clearer in the Caribbean?
Why is the ocean clearer in the Caribbean? Beneath The Caribbean (22 Min) The water is clear due to the absence of plankton and suspended particles. Plankton is the base of the food web in all oceans and, because there is little plankton in the tropics, tropical ocean water is nearly sterile in comparison with the fertile waters of the temperate oceans.
Why is the Caribbean sea so salty?
Ocean salt primarily comes from rocks on land and openings in the seafloor. Salt in the ocean comes from two sources: runoff from the land and openings in the seafloor. Rocks on land are the major source of salts dissolved in seawater. Rainwater that falls on land is slightly acidic, so it erodes rocks.
Why is water turquoise in Caribbean?
The color of the ocean often appears turquoise in the Caribbean because of the clear waters and the shallow coral reefs. Southern California ocean color is derived from the kelp beds, which are numerous in our area. They are a dark to medium green, sometimes olive color.
Why is there no plankton in the Caribbean?
Because the tropics have warm surface water, even in the winter, the thermocline never goes away, and the nutrients stay trapped down below in the depths. So even with ample sunlight, phytoplankton growth is severly limited. In the tropics, predators like coral make good use of what little plankton there is.
Why is The Bahamas water so clear?
Ocean water is clear due to the shallow sandy plateau of the Bahamas. Ocean depths are only 10 — 30m with white sand bottom for miles around the islands. Crystal clear.
Why are there no sharks in the Caribbean?
In the Caribbean, shark populations have been decimated along a number of fronts. Loss of reef habitat and health has driven shark decline. Destructive longline fishing for commercially valuable fish like tuna or swordfish has had a devastating impact on sharks (and sea turtles, seabirds, marine mammals) as bycatch.
Which Caribbean island has no fresh water?
Aruba is a Caribbean Island located eighteen miles off the coast of Venezuela. The Island is extremely arid, with no natural fresh water source available.
Where is the clearest water in the world?
The Weddell Sea has been claimed by scientists to have the clearest waters of any ocean in the world. Described by a historian as “the most wretched and dismal region on earth”, due to the flash freezes that caught Shackleton's ship, its clarity is only belied by the sheer depth of the ocean below.