Mastering Lightroom's custom white balance functionality represents one of the most transformative techniques available to underwater photographers seeking to elevate their aquatic imagery from mundane snapshots to captivating visual narratives. This comprehensive methodology, while requiring minimal time investment, possesses the extraordinary capability to revolutionize your final photographic output, transforming ordinary underwater captures into extraordinary artistic expressions that authentically represent the mesmerizing beauty of the aquatic realm.
The intricacies of underwater white balance correction demand sophisticated understanding of both technical precision and artistic vision, as the unique challenges presented by aquatic environments create color temperature complexities that terrestrial photography rarely encounters. Through systematic application of advanced Lightroom techniques, photographers can overcome the inherent limitations imposed by water's selective light absorption properties and achieve color accuracy that rivals the most sophisticated professional underwater imaging systems.
Understanding the Fundamental Science of Color Temperature Perception
The human visual system is a masterpiece of evolutionary adaptation, finely tuned to process and interpret a wide range of color information in an ever-changing environment. This system is capable of adjusting to vastly different lighting conditions and maintaining a consistent perception of color across various environments. The ability to perceive color accurately despite fluctuations in lighting is referred to as color constancy. The mechanisms behind this adaptive ability are rooted in the intricate workings of the brain and the visual cortex, which constantly adjust our perception of color based on environmental context. Despite these extraordinary capabilities, digital imaging systems—like cameras—often struggle to replicate this level of sophistication, especially in complex environments such as underwater photography.
The Science of Color Perception and Color Temperature
To better understand the challenges of capturing accurate color, it is important to explore how the human eye works to adjust color perception. When we observe an object, such as a white sheet of paper, under different lighting conditions, we perceive the color as being constant. Whether it's under the bright sunlight of midday, the filtered light of a forest canopy, or the warm glow of incandescent bulbs indoors, the white sheet retains its appearance as white. This phenomenon occurs because the human eye and brain perform real-time adjustments to the perceived color, compensating for the shifts in the light spectrum.
The science behind this process involves sophisticated neural processing. The human visual system incorporates contextual information, such as ambient light levels and familiar objects, to interpret the spectral characteristics of light. The brain continuously analyzes and compensates for varying light conditions by adjusting the neural signals sent from the eyes to the brain, effectively "correcting" any color deviations caused by different light sources. This allows for a consistent and reliable color experience across various lighting conditions.
However, digital cameras lack this adaptive mechanism. Unlike the human eye, which has the ability to automatically adjust color perception, a camera sensor records the light in a more static manner. This results in a more accurate but less adaptable interpretation of color, requiring the use of white balance adjustments to correct for the color shifts caused by different light sources.
White Balance: Camera's Attempt to Replicate Color Constancy
In an attempt to replicate the human ability to perceive consistent colors under different lighting conditions, digital cameras employ white balance systems. These systems use algorithms and predetermined color correction profiles to adjust the color of the captured image. White balance functions by compensating for the "color temperature" of the light entering the camera lens, which may be warmer (reddish) or cooler (bluish), depending on the light source. The goal is to neutralize any color casts and restore the image to its true-to-life representation.
The camera's white balance system uses a series of built-in profiles designed to match specific lighting conditions, such as daylight, tungsten light, fluorescent light, and shade. These profiles are selected automatically or manually based on the shooting environment. By analyzing the incoming light's spectral characteristics, the camera applies the appropriate correction, adjusting the image's color balance accordingly.
While white balance systems have made significant advances in recent years, they still fall short when faced with complex lighting environments like underwater photography. The underwater world presents unique challenges that are difficult for camera systems to account for, primarily because water alters the light spectrum in ways that traditional white balance systems cannot anticipate.
The Role of Color Temperature in Photography
Color temperature is a measure of the color characteristics of a light source, expressed in degrees Kelvin (K). The concept of color temperature originates from blackbody radiation theory, which describes the relationship between the temperature of a perfect "blackbody" object and the color of light it emits. Light sources with lower Kelvin values, typically below 3,000 K, emit warm light with more red and orange tones. These are commonly found in incandescent light bulbs and candlelight. On the other hand, light sources with higher Kelvin values, above 5,000 K, emit cooler light with more blue and green components, such as daylight or the light from a cloudy sky.
The color temperature of light significantly impacts how we perceive colors in a photograph. In general, a "cool" light source will produce images with a bluish or greenish tint, while a "warm" light source will create images with a yellow or red tone. Adjusting the white balance settings in a camera allows photographers to neutralize these color casts, making the colors in the image appear as they would under neutral lighting conditions.
Understanding color temperature is essential for photographers who want to accurately represent their subjects, especially in challenging environments like underwater photography, where the color of the light can vary drastically based on depth and water conditions.
Challenges of White Balance in Underwater Photography
Underwater environments pose unique challenges for white balance systems due to the way water absorbs and filters light. Water selectively absorbs longer wavelengths of light, such as red, orange, and yellow, while allowing shorter wavelengths, such as blue and green, to penetrate more deeply. As a result, the deeper a photographer dives, the more the colors of the scene shift toward blue and green, making it difficult for traditional white balance systems to accurately compensate for the loss of warmer colors.
At shallow depths, the water may still allow some of the warmer wavelengths to reach the camera, but this light will be tinged with a greenish or bluish hue. As the photographer descends into deeper waters, the color of the scene becomes increasingly dominated by blue and green, and the absence of red and orange light becomes more pronounced. Without proper white balance adjustments, images taken underwater can appear overly blue or green, making it challenging to capture the true colors of the marine environment.
This issue is compounded by the limited ability of digital cameras to automatically adjust for the specific lighting conditions of underwater environments. While some cameras offer preset white balance modes for underwater photography, these settings are often not sufficient to achieve the same level of color accuracy that human eyes would perceive in the same conditions. The complexity of underwater lighting often requires more advanced techniques, such as the use of external strobes or post-processing adjustments, to restore natural color balance.
The Importance of Post-Processing in Underwater Photography
Given the challenges of achieving accurate white balance underwater, post-processing has become an essential part of the underwater photographer's toolkit. After a dive, photographers can use software like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop to adjust the color temperature of their images and correct any color imbalances caused by water absorption.
Post-processing allows photographers to fine-tune the color balance of their images, restoring the warmer tones that were lost during the dive. This is especially important for capturing the vibrant colors of coral reefs, fish, and other marine life, which can otherwise appear dull or washed out in underwater images. By adjusting the white balance in post-processing, photographers can recover lost reds, oranges, and yellows, bringing the image closer to what the human eye would have seen in the same environment.
While white balance adjustments during the shoot are important, the ability to make precise corrections in post-processing ensures that underwater photographers can capture the full range of colors in their images. This process is vital for producing high-quality photographs that showcase the true beauty of the underwater world.
Advanced Techniques for Underwater White Balance Control
To overcome the limitations of built-in white balance systems, many underwater photographers employ advanced techniques to achieve more accurate color representation. One of the most effective methods is the use of external strobes or flashlights. By introducing artificial light into the scene, photographers can illuminate their subjects with neutral light, effectively balancing out the color temperature shift caused by water absorption.
When using external strobes, photographers can adjust the intensity and direction of the light to highlight specific areas of the image while minimizing color distortion. This allows them to capture vibrant, true-to-life colors even in deeper waters where natural light cannot reach. Proper strobe placement is key to avoiding harsh shadows or overexposed areas, and photographers often experiment with different lighting angles and intensities to achieve the desired effect.
Another technique employed by experienced underwater photographers is the use of specialized color correction filters. These filters are designed to compensate for the loss of certain wavelengths of light at different depths. By using these filters, photographers can restore the warm tones lost due to water absorption and achieve more balanced and natural-looking images. Color correction filters can be particularly useful when photographing underwater landscapes or wide-angle shots, where it is not practical to rely solely on strobes.
Camera White Balance Configuration Strategies for Aquatic Photography
Underwater photography with artificial illumination systems requires fundamentally different white balance approaches compared to terrestrial photography or natural light aquatic imaging. When employing strobe lighting systems, photographers should generally configure their cameras to automatic white balance mode, allowing the camera's sophisticated algorithms to analyze the complex mixture of ambient aquatic illumination and artificial strobe output to determine optimal color temperature settings.
The rationale for this recommendation stems from the inherent complexity of mixed lighting scenarios common in strobe-illuminated underwater photography. Modern camera systems possess increasingly sophisticated white balance algorithms specifically designed to handle challenging lighting conditions, and while perfect accuracy cannot be guaranteed, these systems frequently produce acceptable results that provide excellent starting points for post-processing refinement.
The critical advantage of shooting in RAW format becomes particularly apparent in underwater photography applications. RAW files preserve complete color temperature data without applying destructive processing, enabling photographers to make extensive white balance adjustments during post-processing without degrading image quality or introducing artifacts. This non-destructive workflow approach provides unlimited creative flexibility and the ability to experiment with various color temperature interpretations of the same underwater scene.
For photographers working without artificial illumination systems, manual white balance configuration using physical reference targets becomes essential for achieving accurate color representation. This technique involves photographing a neutral reference card or specialized underwater white balance target under the prevailing lighting conditions, then using this reference image to establish custom white balance settings for subsequent photography.
Commercial underwater white balance presets included in many camera systems generally prove inadequate for serious underwater photography applications. These generic settings, developed for broad market appeal rather than specific underwater conditions, rarely account for the complex variables that influence underwater color temperature, including water clarity, depth, geographical location, time of day, and seasonal variations in water composition.
Advanced Lightroom White Balance Manipulation Techniques
Lightroom's sophisticated white balance correction system provides unprecedented control over color temperature adjustment through dual-parameter manipulation involving both temperature measurement in degrees Kelvin and tint adjustment expressed in arbitrary units. Temperature adjustment controls the warm-to-cool color balance, with higher values introducing yellow and orange characteristics while lower values emphasize blue and cyan components. Tint adjustment operates orthogonally to temperature, controlling the magenta-to-green color balance axis.
Professional underwater photographers recognize three primary scenarios where custom white balance adjustment proves particularly valuable: correcting undesirable background coloration, addressing overall temperature imbalances that affect entire compositions, and enhancing subject prominence through strategic color temperature manipulation.
Correcting Background Color Characteristics Through Strategic White Balance Adjustment
Aquatic environments frequently produce background colors that fail to accurately represent the actual underwater conditions or create aesthetically unpleasing color combinations that detract from the primary subject. Green-tinted backgrounds, common in nutrient-rich waters or shallow reef environments, often benefit from strategic white balance adjustment that shifts the overall color palette toward more aesthetically pleasing blue tones that better represent the marine environment.
The process begins with careful selection of neutral reference points within the composition using Lightroom's white balance eyedropper tool. Successful neutral point selection requires understanding that the target area should represent material that appears naturally gray or white under the prevailing lighting conditions. Sandy substrates, coral formations, or equipment surfaces often provide excellent neutral reference points, though photographers must experiment with multiple locations to achieve optimal results.
When Lightroom's automatic white balance adjustment produces extreme temperature or tint values, this typically indicates that the selected reference point contains inherent color characteristics that make it unsuitable for accurate white balance determination. Values exceeding 10,000 Kelvin or tint adjustments beyond 100 units often suggest that alternative reference points should be explored.
The iterative nature of white balance adjustment requires patience and systematic experimentation. Professional photographers typically test multiple neutral reference points within a single composition, evaluating the resulting color characteristics and selecting the adjustment that produces the most aesthetically pleasing and technically accurate representation of the underwater scene.
Manual fine-tuning following automatic white balance adjustment enables precise control over the final color characteristics. Small adjustments to temperature and tint values can significantly impact the overall mood and visual impact of underwater imagery, allowing photographers to optimize color balance for specific artistic or documentary objectives.
Addressing Overall Temperature Imbalances in Underwater Compositions
Strobe lighting systems exhibit distinct color temperature characteristics that influence the overall appearance of underwater photographs. Different manufacturers and models produce varying spectral outputs, with some systems generating warmer illumination dominated by yellow and orange wavelengths, while others produce cooler light emphasizing blue and cyan components. Diffusion accessories further modify strobe color temperature characteristics, typically warming the light output through spectral filtration.
Night diving photography particularly emphasizes strobe color temperature characteristics, as the absence of ambient sunlight eliminates the natural color balance provided by daylight illumination. The exclusive reliance on artificial lighting systems can produce pronounced color casts that require strategic white balance adjustment to achieve natural-appearing color representation.
Warm color casts, characterized by excessive yellow and orange tones, commonly result from strobe systems with high color temperatures or extensive diffusion modification. These characteristics become particularly apparent when photographing neutral-colored subjects against dark backgrounds, where the artificial lighting dominates the overall color balance of the composition.
The correction process involves systematic evaluation of neutral reference points within the composition, typically including sandy substrates, neutral-colored marine life, or equipment surfaces. The selection of appropriate reference points requires understanding the natural coloration of underwater subjects and environments, as some marine organisms exhibit inherent color characteristics that make them unsuitable for white balance reference purposes.
Professional underwater photographers recognize that perfect color accuracy may not always produce the most aesthetically pleasing results. Slight warm bias often enhances the emotional impact of underwater imagery, creating more inviting and engaging visual presentations that connect with viewers on an emotional level while maintaining technical accuracy.
Enhancing Subject Prominence Through Strategic Color Temperature Manipulation
Wide-angle underwater photography frequently presents challenges related to subject prominence, particularly when photographing large marine life against blue water backgrounds. The substantial water column between camera and subject creates natural color filtering that reduces contrast and diminishes visual impact, requiring strategic white balance adjustment to restore subject prominence and visual drama.
Ambient light underwater photography, while producing natural-appearing color balance, often results in blue color casts that affect subject visibility and impact. Marine mammals, with their naturally darker coloration, can appear to blend with blue water backgrounds when photographed under ambient lighting conditions, reducing the dramatic impact that these encounters deserve.
Custom white balance adjustment using subject-specific reference points can dramatically enhance subject prominence by correcting blue color casts and restoring natural coloration. However, this technique requires careful application to avoid overcorrection that produces unnatural-appearing results or destroys the authentic underwater atmosphere that defines compelling aquatic imagery.
The selection of appropriate reference points for subject-specific white balance adjustment requires understanding marine life coloration and identifying areas that should appear neutral under natural lighting conditions. Whale belly coloration, for example, provides excellent reference points for white balance adjustment, as these areas typically appear white or light gray under balanced illumination.
Extreme white balance corrections often produce visually striking results but may compromise the authentic underwater atmosphere that defines compelling aquatic photography. Professional photographers typically employ moderate adjustments that enhance subject prominence while preserving the natural blue-water environment that contextualizes underwater encounters.
The iterative refinement process involves systematic comparison between original color temperature settings and extreme automatic corrections, often producing optimal results through compromise adjustments that balance technical accuracy with artistic impact. This approach recognizes that underwater photography serves both documentary and artistic purposes, requiring balance between accurate representation and compelling visual presentation.
Technical Implementation Strategies for Professional White Balance Correction
Professional-quality white balance correction requires systematic workflow implementation that ensures consistent results across diverse underwater photography applications. The initial assessment phase involves comprehensive evaluation of overall color characteristics, identifying specific areas requiring adjustment and establishing correction priorities based on artistic and technical objectives.
Reference point selection represents the most critical aspect of successful white balance correction, requiring careful analysis of compositional elements and their suitability for neutral reference purposes. Sandy substrates, coral formations, equipment surfaces, and specific marine life characteristics each offer distinct advantages and limitations for white balance reference applications.
The systematic testing approach involves methodical evaluation of multiple reference points within single compositions, documenting the resulting temperature and tint adjustments and comparing visual outcomes to establish optimal correction parameters. This process requires patience and attention to detail but produces superior results compared to random experimentation approaches.
Documentation of successful white balance correction parameters enables consistency across similar underwater photography scenarios. Professional photographers maintain detailed records of effective reference point selections and correction parameters for various underwater environments, enabling rapid workflow implementation for similar shooting conditions.
Quality control assessment involves critical evaluation of corrected imagery under various viewing conditions and display technologies to ensure optimal appearance across different presentation media. Color-calibrated monitoring systems become essential for accurate assessment of white balance correction effectiveness and ensuring consistent results across various output applications.
Advanced Color Theory Applications in Underwater White Balance Correction
Understanding advanced color theory principles enables sophisticated white balance manipulation that extends beyond basic color temperature correction to encompass comprehensive color harmony optimization. The relationship between complementary colors, analogous color schemes, and triadic color combinations influences the effectiveness of white balance adjustments and their impact on overall compositional success.
Underwater environments naturally emphasize blue and cyan color ranges, creating opportunities for strategic white balance adjustment that enhances complementary orange and yellow tones in marine life subjects. This natural color relationship can be exploited through careful white balance manipulation to create more visually compelling imagery that leverages fundamental color theory principles.
The psychological impact of color temperature characteristics influences viewer response to underwater imagery, with warmer color temperatures generally producing more inviting and emotionally engaging results, while cooler temperatures emphasize the alien and mysterious characteristics of underwater environments. Strategic white balance adjustment enables photographers to control these emotional responses and tailor their imagery to specific communication objectives.
Seasonal and geographical variations in water characteristics create distinct color temperature signatures that experienced underwater photographers learn to recognize and exploit. Tropical waters, temperate seas, and polar environments each present unique color temperature challenges and opportunities that require specific white balance approaches for optimal results.
The integration of white balance correction with comprehensive post-processing workflows enables sophisticated color grading techniques that transform underwater imagery into compelling artistic expressions while maintaining technical accuracy and authentic environmental representation.
Professional Workflow Integration and Efficiency Optimization
Efficient white balance correction requires systematic integration into comprehensive post-processing workflows that minimize time investment while maximizing image quality improvements. Professional photographers develop standardized approaches that enable rapid assessment and correction of white balance issues without sacrificing creative flexibility or technical precision.
Batch processing capabilities within Lightroom enable efficient white balance correction across multiple images captured under similar conditions, reducing individual image processing time while maintaining consistent color characteristics throughout photographic series. This approach proves particularly valuable for underwater photographers who frequently capture multiple images of similar subjects under consistent lighting conditions.
The development of personal white balance correction presets enables rapid application of proven correction parameters to new imagery, significantly reducing processing time while ensuring consistent results. These custom presets, based on extensive experience with specific underwater environments and equipment configurations, provide starting points for detailed correction refinement.
Quality assurance protocols ensure consistent white balance correction standards across diverse underwater photography applications. Professional workflows incorporate systematic review processes that verify correction effectiveness and maintain consistent color characteristics throughout comprehensive underwater photography portfolios.
Archival considerations influence white balance correction decisions, as excessive correction parameters may appear appropriate under current viewing conditions but prove problematic under future display technologies or changing aesthetic preferences. Conservative correction approaches often provide greater long-term value and flexibility for diverse presentation applications.
Equipment Considerations and Technical Requirements
Professional white balance correction requires color-accurate monitoring systems that enable precise assessment of correction effectiveness and ensure optimal results across various output media. Consumer-grade monitors often exhibit significant color inaccuracies that compromise white balance correction decisions and produce inconsistent results.
Calibration maintenance represents an essential component of professional white balance correction workflows, requiring regular verification of monitor accuracy and systematic adjustment of display characteristics to maintain color fidelity. Professional color calibration systems provide the precision required for critical white balance assessment and ensure consistent results across different viewing environments.
The selection of appropriate color space settings influences white balance correction effectiveness and determines the range of colors available for correction applications. Professional photographers typically employ wide-gamut color spaces that preserve maximum color information and enable extensive correction flexibility without introducing artifacts or quality degradation.
File format considerations impact white balance correction capabilities, with RAW formats providing maximum flexibility and adjustment range while compressed formats limit correction possibilities and may introduce artifacts during extensive adjustment procedures. Professional underwater photographers universally employ RAW capture formats to maximize post-processing flexibility and ensure optimal image quality.
Storage and backup protocols become particularly important for underwater photography applications, as the unique and often irreplaceable nature of underwater imagery requires comprehensive data protection strategies that prevent loss of original capture data and processing work.
Artistic Applications and Creative Enhancement Techniques
Advanced white balance manipulation extends beyond technical color correction to encompass creative enhancement techniques that transform underwater imagery into compelling artistic expressions. Strategic color temperature adjustment can dramatically alter the mood and emotional impact of underwater scenes, creating diverse interpretations of identical underwater encounters.
Color harmony optimization through strategic white balance adjustment enables photographers to create more visually appealing compositions that leverage fundamental design principles and color theory relationships. The enhancement of complementary color relationships, the creation of analogous color schemes, and the development of sophisticated color progressions all become possible through advanced white balance manipulation techniques.
Mood control through color temperature adjustment provides powerful tools for environmental storytelling and emotional communication. Warmer color temperatures generally create more inviting and accessible imagery, while cooler temperatures emphasize the alien and mysterious characteristics of underwater environments, enabling photographers to tailor their imagery to specific narrative objectives.
The integration of white balance correction with comprehensive color grading workflows enables sophisticated artistic interpretation that transforms documentary underwater imagery into compelling visual art while maintaining environmental authenticity and scientific accuracy.
Seasonal and temporal storytelling through strategic color temperature manipulation enables photographers to communicate specific environmental conditions and temporal characteristics that enhance the narrative impact of underwater imagery and provide viewers with enhanced understanding of aquatic environments.
Troubleshooting Common White Balance Correction Challenges
Underwater white balance correction presents unique challenges that require specialized knowledge and systematic troubleshooting approaches to achieve optimal results. Over-correction represents one of the most common issues, occurring when automatic white balance adjustment produces extreme temperature or tint values that create unnatural-appearing color characteristics.
The identification of appropriate neutral reference points requires understanding of underwater color characteristics and recognition of materials that should appear neutral under balanced illumination conditions. Marine organisms with inherent color characteristics, highly reflective surfaces, and areas with significant color contamination all present challenges for accurate white balance reference applications.
Mixed lighting scenarios, common in underwater photography applications that combine natural ambient light with artificial strobe illumination, create complex color temperature characteristics that may require compromise solutions balancing optimal correction for different illumination sources within single compositions.
Water clarity variations significantly impact white balance correction requirements, with turbid waters creating different color temperature challenges compared to clear tropical waters. Understanding these environmental variables enables photographers to adjust their correction approaches and achieve consistent results across diverse underwater conditions.
The assessment of correction effectiveness requires understanding of natural underwater color characteristics and recognition of appropriate color balance for different marine environments. This knowledge enables photographers to distinguish between technically accurate corrections and aesthetically pleasing adjustments that may deviate from strict color accuracy standards.
Final Thoughts
Mastering white balance in Adobe Lightroom is not just a technical skill—it is a foundational pillar of underwater photographic excellence. The ocean is an environment rich in visual storytelling potential, but its unique optical properties pose serious challenges to accurate color representation. For underwater photographers, color distortion caused by depth, turbidity, and selective light absorption can rob images of their emotional resonance, scientific clarity, and artistic impact. The consistent and strategic use of Lightroom’s white balance tools allows photographers to reclaim the vibrancy, realism, and mood of their underwater experiences in post-processing—bringing their creative vision into full realization.
Unlike terrestrial photography, where lighting conditions often remain within predictable parameters, the underwater world is governed by rapidly shifting variables that make in-camera white balance calibration unreliable. This makes Lightroom's custom white balance capabilities not merely useful, but essential. By applying advanced techniques outlined in this guide—such as identifying reliable neutral reference points, correcting for strobe color inconsistencies, compensating for depth-related color loss, and managing complex lighting mixes—photographers can create images that are both visually compelling and technically sound.
Moreover, Lightroom’s granular control over both temperature and tint provides unparalleled precision in color balancing. These dual axes enable nuanced correction across the full color spectrum—restoring lost reds in reef scenes, balancing greens in algae-heavy waters, and refining blues in pelagic shots—while allowing for subtle artistic interpretation. The goal isn’t always objective realism; it’s effective storytelling. A slightly warm shift can transform an image from clinical documentation to emotionally evocative art, while a cooler palette can communicate the vast mystery of the deep.
Crucially, the ability to work in RAW format amplifies the power of these adjustments. Non-destructive editing workflows preserve the full dynamic range and color data captured during a dive, making it possible to reimagine and reinterpret images as understanding and creative goals evolve. Batch editing, custom presets, and metadata management streamline this process, ensuring photographers can maintain consistency and efficiency across large image sets—a common requirement after extended dive expeditions.
Ultimately, white balance mastery is about more than fixing color—it is about reclaiming the visual integrity of the underwater world. It is a discipline that blends science with creativity, enabling photographers to serve both artistic vision and environmental truth. By developing a deep understanding of color theory, light physics, and Lightroom’s correction tools, underwater photographers can elevate their images from raw captures into polished, impactful visual narratives.
As our oceans face increasing environmental pressure, the responsibility to document, share, and celebrate their beauty becomes even more urgent. Accurate and emotionally resonant imagery can educate, inspire, and advocate. Thus, mastering white balance is not just a post-processing task—it is an act of creative stewardship and storytelling that honors the true colors of the ocean.