The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1903-11-27
COLORS OF THE SEA.
wonders of the Water World Re-
Nenicd by n Meridian Ocean
Voyage.

Draw close to the earth by gravita-
ton. filling the miles of deep valleys
and abysses. is the wonderful world OF
water. while above II, covering every
| square inch Of its surface and ocea-
casionally sitting through its waves. is
the thinner medium of air. says writer
in the New York Post
Flying fishes leap into the air and
fishhawks plunge beneath the surface;
the oysters cling higher and higher I'M
til the tide leaves them exposed on the
| roots of the mangrove bushes. but.
nevertheless. the inhabitants of the wa
ter and air trespass little upon each
| others province. In many ways we
can compare the two mediums-in
| color. for example. OF course, the
| clouds and the color of the sky are often
reflected in the water, but even az the
air has the glores of the sunset. so wa
ter has its changing hues. independent
of mere reflection.
Disregardng the tints of brown and
| olive, which muddy sediment from the
land gives to sea water. there are many
| other causes for the eolors of the ocean.
some of which are very interesting. On
! almost every long voyage at sea. spots
of reddish brown color are noticed at
| one time or another When a few crops
of the diseolored water are examined
under a microscope. myrads of minute
! cylinder-shaped algae are seen, some
separate. some joined together in
scores
Imagine the number of tiny plants
which go to make up half square mile
of this sea sawdust." as 1t is called,
1t is this organism which has given the
name to the Red sea, although it also
abounds in the waters of the Atlantic
ocean and around Australia.
Sometimes the water far from land
will be seen to be of chocolate hue for
| an extent of several miles and this is
caused by millions upon millions OF
minute one-celled animals, which lash
themselves along. each on his erratic
| individual course, by means of the finest
| OF hair-like threads or ella.
Tiny shrimps often form bright red
patches known as whales food" upon
which sea-brds feast to repletion
Even in the icy Arctic seas the water Is
often discolored with tiny animals and
| plants.
A landsman or person acquainted
with the ocean only from the shore can
never realize what marvellous tints
| deep-sea water assumes-blues of most
wonderful depth and softness, some
| times making the azure of the sky seem
hard ard thin. But 1t is in the tropics
or semi-tropies that water takes to itself
the most beautiful colors of it's own
And we need not go beyond the limits
Of our own country. for where in the
world can be equaled the panorama of
Biscayne bay in Florida or the waters
in which are set those jewels of the
| south. the Florida Keys?
Green of all shades is the prevailing
color. from the lightest Of pea green
to deep azure green. So intense is
this tint, that after looking at 1t fixedly
for awhile, the sky will appear to be OF
deep rose or pink-green's compile
mentary color. AS one sails through
these waters streak or patch Of beauti-
full pink will appear, then line of gray,
followed by more green and a stretch
OF royal purple. while the white caps
blend into every tint giving a most
beautiful effect. The emerald of these
waters is as intense under the rays OF
a searchlight as in the daytime
These hues are not from the sky,
which may be perfectly clear or fecked
with clouds without exerting any in
fiuence on the various tints. Whatever
their origin. they are among the great
est surprises and pleasures in store for
a northerner who visits the tropics.