Why is the White Sea called white, the Black Sea black, the Red Sea red, and the Yellow Sea yellow? And what does the color depend on?

To all lovers beach holiday it is known that there are not many heavenly and amazing places in the world that are ideal for a full-fledged passive recreation. The main requirements of such tourists are the purest warm sea, soft sun and white beaches. A couple of years ago, tourists went to Turkey and Thailand for a beach holiday. Today, the boundaries and opportunities for true beach lovers have expanded. In autumn and winter, tours to the Caribbean are popular, as natural conditions these places are unique. One of the most visited countries is Dominican Republic .

Why Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a dream country. Tall palm trees, turquoise Caribbean sea, white sandy beaches, mild tropical climate - all this creates amazing conditions for complete relaxation.

There are no suitable words to describe the beauty and grandeur caribbean. Most of the tourists visit this country just to see this divine sea with their own eyes. Its bright turquoise color is simply amazing. Soft waves and very warm water- the sea envelops you with its warmth. This sea will forever remain in your memory. Since the Dominican Republic is not yet the most popular tourist destination, the sea here remains very clean, and the landscapes amaze with their originality. Along the coast you can still find quiet places where you can retire and be alone with nature. Many beaches are equipped with sunbeds.

Service in the Dominican Republic is at a high level. There are many hotels to choose from. From food, you can choose national cuisine, which includes various meat dishes, or order those delicacies that you are used to at home. Dominicans are very friendly, always ready to solve any problem.

From entertainment, you can try any kind of sea ​​trips, fishing, or play beach volleyball. From the sights you can choose excursions to museums or a fort named after Columbus. A lot is connected with the name of this traveler here, since it was on these lands that he once landed.

“Sea, sea… Bottomless world!” - these words from the once popular song excite our imagination with romantic pictures of seascapes with blue distances, blue skies and turquoise waves. Somewhere in the soul, our distant warm sea begins to rustle, echoing the rustling waves in summer marine fantasies ...

How many oceans and seas are there on our planet?

According to the International Geographical Bureau, there are 4 oceans and 54 seas on Earth, which together form the World Ocean, which makes up two-thirds of the surface of the entire globe.

What color is the ocean?

The color of sea water in the oceans is far from uniform, and in different parts of the Earth it has its own, that is, each sea has a unique color shade that is unique to it.

What determines the color of the sea?

The color of the water changes periodically, and this depends on many factors, primarily on illumination, depth, transparency, the color of the seabed, the presence of gases and the quantitative density of microorganisms inhabiting the sea, as well as on such phenomena as the glow and bloom of the sea.
In the distance, the sea in its color shade is close to the color of the sky. In cloudy weather it is gray, in clear weather it is blue. When the sun sets, the bright blue sea takes on a golden hue. During a wave, the sea appears whitish.

Scientists studying the depths of the sea claim that many seas got their name from the color of the water. They believe that in warm seas In the tropical zone, the color of the water is dark blue, and even blue, in the shelf seas it is greenish, and in the muddy coastal seas it has a yellowish tint.

Why is the White Sea called white, the Black Sea black, the Red Sea red, and the Yellow Sea yellow?

The White Sea is the sacred sea of ​​the North, it contains many unsolved mysteries. The White Sea got its name, perhaps, from the color white snow and ice covering it in winter. But there is another assumption, which is that the name "White" Sea received from the religious meaning of the sphere, that is, heavenly. Indeed, in semantics, white is a heavenly, divine color. There is a hypothesis that the White Sea and its coast are located on the territory of a once flourishing mystical civilization - Hyperborea.

The Black Sea got its name because in cloudy weather the surface of the sea darkens under black clouds. The Turkic nomads, who noticed this, gave him a name - "Kara-Deniz".
There is another plausible assumption about the origin of the name of the Black Sea. Since ancient times, it has been known that all objects that have been in its mysterious depths turn black. And this happens because at a depth of more than 200 meters, sea water is saturated with hydrogen sulfide, which easily forms black salts.

The Red Sea has a red color due to brown microscopic algae that periodically develop in it. But there is another version regarding the name of the Red Sea. It is said that in ancient times, sailors gave the sea the name "Red" because of the color of the rocks that surround it.
Exists ancient legend, relating to biblical events, which tells about the difficult transition of the Jews from Egypt to Israel through the Red Sea. Moses, who was leading the Jewish people, ordered God's name part to the sea waters. And before their eyes opened deep bottom seas with rocks and mountain ranges, with gorges and depressions, during the transition through which a lot of people died, which was the reason for the name of the Red Sea.
The Red Sea is one of the most transparent and saltiest seas. Its crystal clearness is explained by the fact that not a single river flows into it, which could bring silt and sand with it and, thereby, cloud the sea waters. And although the sea has the name Red, its waters have a beautiful azure color.

The Yellow Sea is so named because it periodically acquires a yellowish hue of clay, which is abundant on the coast.

Can you tell the color of the sea?
For the first time, a device for determining the color of reservoirs was invented at the end of the 19th century by the Swiss geographer Forel, who studied lakes. The device was somewhat inconvenient to work with sea water.

The famous German oceanographer Ole developed a water color scale consisting of a set of twenty-two sealed glass test tubes with samples of solutions of different shades, from light aquamarine to brownish green. Ole finalized the device, improved it, and in given time With this device, you can determine the color of sea water.

Of course, if sea ​​water type in the palm of your hand, then it will turn out to be transparent, completely without any color. And only in the sea or ocean does it acquire its unique shade.

Which seas have the greenest water color?
There is amazing on earth beautiful seas with eye-catching fabulous shades. These marine "beauties" include the Sargasso Sea.
The Sargasso Sea has a bright greenish hue due to the accumulation of green algae on its surface, which form entire islands, roads, and even fields. And the sailors, who first found themselves in this region of the ocean, mistakenly took it for land.

One of the brightest tropical seas is the Caribbean Sea. Its water shines from deep turquoise to bright emerald hues.

The Sea of ​​Azov also has a greenish tint, especially during the season of plankton development. And in the season of storms, the sea takes on a color from yellow-green to yellow-brown due to a change in the transparency of the water. The sea begins to become cloudy, because periodically there is a resuspension of bottom silt and an increase in the river runoff of muddy waters.

And what color shades are noticed in sea waters by people for whom the sea is a place of everyday work?

Those who have connected their lives with the sea see and notice the most unusual subtle shades in the surrounding sea and ocean waters. After all, the sea changes with the time of day, its color depends on the seasons and weather factors. When the nature of the sea changes, its color also changes. And these changes cannot be overlooked.

One of the most vivid impressions can be attributed to memories of a vacation at sea. How do we remember this beautiful sea element? Gentle rays of the southern sun? Delicate velvet of coastal sand? The rustling whisper of the waves or the warm breath of the salty wind?..
Perhaps, against the background of all these memorable moments intoxicating the soul, the color of the sea is the strongest. This fantastic blue, delighting our admiring eyes, remains in the memory of an aquamarine delight, a turquoise fairy tale or an azure legend. And all the picturesque shades of the sea merge into one wonderful sea color, with which any memory of the sea is associated.

If you try to answer the question which sea is the bluest, it will hardly be possible to come up with one single true answer. After all, each sea has its own unique color from the blue range with unique shades of turquoise, aquamarine or emerald.
The bluest sea is the sea that lives in our joyful memories or sweet dreams of beauty. And dreams do come true...

(Spanish Mar Caribe; English Caribbean Sea) - one of the most beautiful tropical seas, included in the pool Atlantic Ocean. Marginal semi-enclosed sea, from the south and west bounded by the Central and South America, from the east and north - the Antilles (thanks to which the sea has a second name - Antillean).

In the northwest, the sea through the Yucatan Strait (Spanish: Yucatán Channel) communicates with the Gulf of Mexico; through many interisland straits - with the Atlantic Ocean; and in the southwest, through an artificially constructed 80-kilometer waterway (Panama Canal) - with the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The region where the Caribbean Sea stretches is known as the "Caribbean". Sea waters wash the shores of the following countries: in the south -, and Panama; in the west - Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and (Mexican Peninsula); in the north - Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica; in the east - the countries of the Lesser Antilles. The surface area of ​​the sea is about 2,753 thousand km², the average volume of water is approximately 6,860 thousand km³.

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The sea is considered very deep: its average depth is 2.5 thousand m, the maximum is 7.7 thousand m (“Cayman Depression”). The color of sea water: from turquoise (bluish-green) to deep green.

The Caribbean Sea has a huge economic and strategic importance, first of all, as the shortest sea route connecting American ports with the ports of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through one of the largest construction projects carried out by mankind (Spanish: del Canal de Panama). The most important ports located on the Caribbean Sea: and (Venezuela); (Colombia); Lemon (Costa Rica); Santo Domingo ( Dominican Republic); Colon (Panama); Santiago de Cuba (Cuba), etc.

Climate

The formation of the climate in the Caribbean is influenced by warm ocean currents and the solar activity of this tropical zone. The average annual temperature of the surface layers of sea water is +26°C. The Caribbean Sea receives the waters of many rivers, among which it should be noted (Spanish Madalena), Atrato (Spanish Atrato), Belen (Spanish Belém), Dike (Spanish Dique), Krikamola (Spanish Kramola) and others.

The main trouble that often breaks the idyll of these fabulous places is destructive storms. The Caribbean Sea is considered to be the location with the highest number of hurricane storms in the Western Hemisphere.

Terrible hurricanes are a serious problem for island and coastal residents. Hurricanes also cause great damage to numerous coral formations - atolls, reefs, coastal fringes of islands. In the northern part of the Caribbean, from June to November, an average of 8-9 tropical hurricanes occur per year.

Cradle of Pirates (Caribbean)

The sea got its name from a tribe of Carib Indians who lived on its warm coast in the pre-Columbian era. The sea has become famous for its amazingly beautiful coral reefs, frequent tropical cyclones, which are accompanied by crushing hurricanes, and pirates, who have chosen it as a field of their “fishing activity” since ancient times.

The coastline of the sea along its entire length is extremely indented: there are numerous lagoons, bays, bays, capes. The coastal soil is sometimes sandy, sandy-silty or rocky.

The coast in many places is covered with coral, amazing white sand.

Among large bays it should be noted Honduran (Spanish Golfo de Honduras), (Spanish Golfo de Venezuela), Mosquitos (Spanish Golfo de los Mosquitos), Ana Maria (Spanish Golfo Anna Maria), Batabano (Spanish Golfo de Batabano), Gonav (Spanish: Golfo de Gonave).

The Caribbean Sea is very rich in islands. General group Caribbean Islands united under the name "Antiles archipelago" (Spanish: Antillas archipielago) or "West Indies" (Spanish: West India archipielago). The archipelago is subdivided into island groups: Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles (Netherlands), and Bahamas(Spanish: Wahamas).

The Greater Antilles, which are mainly of continental origin, located in the northern part of the sea, include such major islands like Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. Small Antilles(subdivided depending on the location to the northeast trade wind into Windward and Leeward) are mainly of volcanic or coral origin.

Among the many small islands this group, the following can be distinguished: the famous Bahamas; original Turks and Caicos; Virgin Islands, divided between the US and UK; exotic Antigua and Barbuda; open to the ubiquitous Guadeloupe; the island of Martinique (fr. Martinique), known as the birthplace of Josephine de Beauharnais (fr. Joséphine de Beauharnais), the first wife of Napoleon I; as well as Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago; and finally Dominica, the largest of the Windward Islands. Perhaps it is necessary to mention the island of Curacao, which "gave" its name to the popular liquor.

Tourist paradise

The extraordinary popularity of the Caribbean among tourists is easily explained: the warm sea all year round, fabulous beauty nature, a decent level of service, an extensive selection of hotels (for every taste and budget) and a huge "menu" of all kinds of entertainment: interesting excursions, an abundance of historical and natural attractions, water and "land" sports, restaurants, discos, nightclubs.

A distinctive feature of the Caribbean region is a large selection of various recreation options: each state here has its own “specialization”.

For example, in Barbados, English national traditions have firmly taken root in life, rest here is mostly measured and calm.

Grenada, known as the "Spice Island", has many museums, botanical gardens, historical sites and gorgeous white beaches.

Magnificent hotels the highest level, excellent conditions for diving and the famous SPA-centers of Turks and Caicos attract the attention of respectable visitors.

Saint Lucia bears the proud title of "Garden Island", being one of the the most beautiful islands Caribbean Sea. As if in contrast to it, the desert island of Aruba is also located in the Caribbean Sea, with chic hotels and enchanting nightlife.

The Bahamas offers tourists all sorts of accommodation options, from secluded small hotels to noisy, bustling hotel complexes.

And in Curacao, it is simply impossible not to go to one of the many bars to order a glass of delicious blue drink!

Bottom relief

The bottom relief of the sea is characterized by unevenness - numerous uplifts and depressions, underwater ridges, the bottom is conditionally divided into 5 main basins: Grenada (4120 m), Columbia (4532 m), Venezuelan (5420 m), Yucatan (5055 m) and Bartlett, with deep-sea Cayman gutter (7090 m., this is the world's deepest underwater volcanic fault). The Caribbean is considered seismically active; underwater earthquakes are not uncommon here, often causing tsunamis.

The deep sea floor is covered with calcareous foraminiferal oozes and clays.

Flora and fauna

vegetable and animal world The Caribbean is extraordinarily rich and varied. Extensive coral buildups are typical tropical coral communities of living organisms. Huge variety and amazing beauty of forms water world attract here and amaze with their splendor connoisseurs of underwater landscapes and the most sophisticated divers from all over the world. Although the local flora does not stand out in quantitative terms, it is characterized by a rich species composition. In the Caribbean Sea, you can find entire underwater fields of macroalgae. In shallow areas, vegetation is mainly concentrated in coral reef zones. Here there are algae such as tortoiseshell thalassia (lat. Thalassia lestudinum), cymodocean algae (lat. Cymodoceaceae), sea ruppia (lat. Ruppia maritima). Chlorophyll algae grow in deep waters. Caribbean macroalgae are represented by dozens of different species.

Phytoalgae are very poorly represented here, however, as in all tropical seas.

The fauna of the sea is richer and more diverse than the flora. Various fish, marine mammals and all kinds of bottom animals live here.

The bottom Caribbean fauna is represented by numerous sea snakes, worms, mollusks (gastropods, cephalopods, bivalves, etc.), various crustaceans (crustaceans, crabs, spiny lobsters, etc.) and echinoderms (urchins, starfish). The intestinal representatives consist of a rich spectrum of coral polyps (including reef-forming ones) and all kinds of jellyfish.

Sea turtles live in the Caribbean Sea: here you can find a green turtle (soup turtle), a loggerhead turtle (loggerhead), hawksbill or a real carriage, as well as an Atlantic ridley - a species of the smallest and fastest growing sea turtles. When famous at the beginning of the XVI century. crossed the Caribbean Sea in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe current Cayman Islands, the way for his ships was literally blocked by an immense herd of green turtles. Struck by the abundance of these marine animals, Columbus named the group of islands he discovered "Las Tortugas" (Spanish: Las Tortugas - "turtles").

For centuries, turtles have served as a source of food for travelers, sailors, pirates and whalers off Las Tortugas. But this beautiful name, unfortunately, did not take root, just as the once countless turtle herds did not survive. As a result of thoughtless human activity (uncontrolled long-term fishing, the ruin of turtle eggs, ruthless pollution of the sea), where in the old days sailboats hardly made their way through a dense barrier of swarming turtle shells, now it is not easy to meet even one individual.

Marine mammals have also settled in the warm, gentle waters of the Caribbean. There are large cetaceans (sperm whales, humpback whales) and several dozen species of smaller dolphins. Pinnipeds are also found here, which are mainly represented by sand teeth (lat. Solenodontidae) - small mammals that live on some islands. In ancient times, many monk seals lived in the Caribbean Sea, today this species is extinct.

The Caribbean wildlife is endlessly diverse! Once did not exist, just a few millennia ago, the water connection of the world's great oceans - the Pacific and Atlantic, was broken, so the diversity of the Caribbean fauna is explained by the presence of many Pacific species of animals here.

Almost 500 different species of fish live here, ranging from small schooling and bottom representatives of the fish community (moray eels, barracudas, flounders, gobies, rays, flying fish) to large species of fish (sharks, marlins, swordfish, tuna, etc.).

The objects of fishing in the sea are mainly sardines, tunas, lobsters; objects of sport fishing - sharks, marlins, large barracudas and swordfish.

Numerous sharks of the Caribbean Sea are represented by gray sharks (including reef, bull, silk) and various bottom species (nannies, sixgills, squatins, etc.). In coastal waters, there are also tiger and even white sharks, which are very rare. In the open waters of the sea, you can meet hammerhead, blue, whale and long-finned sharks. By the way, the largest of the sharks - the whale never attacks a person, it feeds on plankton and small fish, filtering the water through thousands of sharp, small teeth. The most dangerous for humans is considered White shark

How many oceans and seas are there?
It is not difficult to answer this - on Earth you can count 54 seas and 4 oceans, together forming the great World Ocean, which makes up approximately two-thirds of the entire surface of our planet.

What color is our ocean?

It is worth saying that the color of the water is far from uniform, it has its own in different parts of the ocean, each sea has its own shade, different from the others.

And what does the color depend on?

The color of the water changes with some indefinite frequency, it depends on various factors: the level of illumination, the depth of the sea, the transparency of the water layer, the color of the seabed, and many others. In the distance, the sea is in harmony with the color of the sky. In rainy gloomy weather it is gray, in sunny weather it is bright blue. When the Sun goes below the horizon at the end of the day, the color of the sea changes to golden. During various disturbances, the sea seems to be gray.

Scientists who study the depths of the seas believe that the seas got their names because of the color of the water. They argue that in the seas that are in the tropical zone, the color of the water is dark blue, and sometimes even blue, in the shelf seas, it is close to green, and in the muddy coastal seas it acquires a shade of yellowness.

Why is the Black Sea called black - yellow, Red - red, and White - white?

The Red Sea has its color due to brown microscopic algae, periodically developing in it. But there is another version of the appearance of the name "Red Sea". According to legend, in ancient times, sailors gave it this name due to the color of the rocks that surround it. The Red Sea is the most transparent and saltiest of all seas. The crystal purity of this sea is due to the fact that not a single river flows into it, which could bring silt, sand or anything else into it and, thereby, cloud the sea waters. And although the sea has the name red, but the water in it has a beautiful color of azure.

Black Sea It got its name due to the fact that in gloomy weather the surface of the sea darkens under dark clouds. The steppe nomads who noticed this called it " Kara Deniz».

There is another no less plausible version about the origin of the name. Since ancient times, it has been known that objects that have been in its mysterious depths turn black. It became known later. That this happens because in places where the depth reaches more than 200 meters, the water is enriched with hydrogen sulfide, which forms black salts, and they, in turn, settle on objects.

White Sea often called the sacred sea of ​​the North, it hides many mysteries and secrets in its depths. Most likely, the sea got its name because of the color of the snow-white snows and ices that cover it in the cold winter. There is an assumption that the White Sea with its coast is located on the territory where a mystical civilization, Hyperborea, once possibly was.

Yellow Sea got its name due to the fact that it periodically acquires a shade of clay, which is very abundant on the coast.

Is it possible to determine the color of the sea?

A device that serves to determine the color of the seas, rivers and other bodies of water, was invented at the end of the nineteenth century by the Swiss geographer Forel. Trout has been studying lakes for a very long time. The device itself was a bit inconvenient to work with sea water.

One of the most famous oceanographers, Ole, developed a scale that determines the color of water, consisting of twenty-two glass test tubes that were sealed, with samples of solutions of various shades, from light aquamarine to reddish green. Ole improved the device, and in our time, with the help of it, you can approximately determine the color of sea water.

The most amazing thing is that if sea water is taken into some shallow container, it will turn out to be transparent and will not have any color. That's just in the sea or ocean, it will acquire its easily distinguishable shade.

One of the brightest seas is caribbean. Its water changes color from rich turquoise to bright green hues.

It is not worth even trying to answer the question of which sea is the bluest, for you can never find a single general answer that will be true without question. After all, each sea has its own unique color with unique shades that make the color of the sea unforgettable.

- this is the sea that lives in our childhood memories or in warm dreams of beauty. And dreams ... They must come true ...

It would be great to rent a ship or a yacht and sail through all the seas, comparing with your own eyes the blue of their waters. Although you can do this not immediately, but gradually. For example, one year you can arrange a wedding on a ship, another time you can arrange a corporate party on a ship, and a year later you can throw a banquet on a ship and get a lot of new impressions from it. But if it is not yet possible to sail the seas, then you can limit yourself to local water bodies, for example, by ordering a ship in Moscow on the website: http://www.teploxodik.ru/, and also get a lot of positive emotions.

First-class beach holidays, the seas of the Dominican Republic, its carnival and amazing historical sights are the main reasons for such popularity of the distant Caribbean state. By the way, the answer to the question of which sea washes the Dominican Republic is the Caribbean.

All shades of turquoise

Even artists get lost when asked about the color of the Caribbean. It is inimitable in any weather and in all seasons, and the range of its shades can be expressed in one word - delight! The rainy season in the Dominican Republic begins in mid-May and lasts until the first autumn days. The rest of the time, nothing can overshadow a beach holiday and a varied excursion program those who were not afraid of a long flight and spared no expense to buy their dream tour.
The water temperature in the Caribbean Sea in the resorts of the Dominican Republic ranges from +25 to +28 degrees, which makes swimming in it especially comfortable. For fans of diving here is a real paradise and each dive is accompanied by amazing discoveries and observations. For those who are interested in numbers, the following facts will seem interesting:

  • The area of ​​the Caribbean Sea exceeds 2.5 million square meters. km.
  • The most great depth sea ​​is almost 8.8 km. This point is in a trench near the Cayman Islands.
  • The first Europeans set foot on the shores of the Caribbean in 1492. It was the expedition of Christopher Columbus.
  • Piracy appeared here in the 17th century, and representatives of this illegal business practiced attacks on ships until the first half of the 19th century.
  • In 1914, the Panama Canal was opened, linking the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean.
  • The salt concentration in the Caribbean Sea is about 36%. This is slightly less than the indicators of the Mediterranean Sea.

ocean outside the window

The question of what seas are in the Dominican Republic can be answered a little differently than just “Caribbean”. Its northern and northeastern coasts are washed by the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean, which occupies the second step of the podium in terms of the size of the water surface, average depth and volume of water after the Pacific.
The main attraction of the Atlantic in the Dominican Republic is coral reefs, which are becoming the object of close attention of divers from all over the world. Cayo Levantado Island, located in Samana Bay, attracts fans of a secluded beach holiday. Here you can watch many birds in their natural habitat, and at the end of winter you can see humpback whales.