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Tales of the Sea Day
"Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me
As I gaze upon the sea!
All the old romantic legends,
All my dreams, come back to me.
Sails of silk and ropes of sandal,
Such as gleam in ancient lore;
And the singing of the sailors,
And the answer from the shore!"
~ The Secret of the Sea, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Among the many mysterious and beautiful phenomena glimpsed along the sea’s horizon or rising from the ocean’s depths, few are as strange or captivating as the surface weather mirage known as the Fata Morgana. Named for the Arthurian enchantress Morgan le Fay, this optical illusion has long fascinated sailors and storytellers alike.
A Fata Morgana distorts reality into dreamlike visions, often stacking and stretching distant objects into forms that resemble towering castles, floating cities, or impossible ships. These images shift rapidly, both vertically and horizontally, sometimes mimicking the outline of architectural structures. Historically, they were most famously observed in the Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily, where they were thought to be illusions conjured by Morgan le Fay to lure sailors to their doom—phantom fortresses hovering in the air, or deceptive landmasses that vanished upon approach.
This mirage isn’t confined to the sea. It can appear in deserts, polar regions, or over land, and may involve almost any distant object—boats, coastlines, islands, even mountains. Mentioned since ancient times, Fata Morgana has also been suggested as a possible explanation for sightings of the legendary Flying Dutchman: a ghost ship said to be cursed to sail the oceans forever, glowing with spectral light and visible only from afar. 💙 💚 💙 🌊 🌊 🌊 ⚓
World Oceans Day is an annual observation to honour the world's oceans, celebrate the products the ocean provides such as seafood as well as marine life itself for aquariums, pets, and a time to appreciate its own intrinsic value.
The color of the ocean and the color of the sky are related but occur independently of each other: in both cases, the preferential absorption of long-wavelength (reddish) light gives rise to the blue. Note that this effect only works if the water is very pure; if the water is full of mud, algae or other impurities, the light scattered off these impurities will overwhelm the water's natural blueness.
Various cultures divide the hues colors differently from the English language usage and some do not distinguish between blue and green in the same way. An example is Welsh where glas can mean blue or green, or Vietnamese where xanh likewise can mean either.
Other color names assigned to bodies of water are sea green and ultramarine blue. Unusual oceanic colorings have given rise to the terms red tide and black tide.
The Ancient Greek poet Homer uses the epithet "wine-dark sea"; in addition, he also describes the sea as "grey".
William Ewart Gladstone has suggested that this is due to the Ancient Greeks classifying colors primarily by luminosity rather than hue, while others believe Homer was color-blind.
For more science behind the light scattering and other effects which result in the many different colours of the ocean, some of which are reflected in the tartan, click the spectacular wave photo "Juice" by Clark Little.