Pink light beam?

[parrothead600]

It may sound like a stupid question but I'm going to ask anyway.
Last Sunday, I did a dive in fresh water to a depth of 70'. Visibility was only 5-10' until we passed 45', where it turned dark. This was the first time that I used my dive light(UK SL-4) and I noticed that the beam coming from the light was pink in color. 2 other divers had C-8 lights and their beams also were pink.
I know that these lights cast a white beam thru the air. Why does it change in the water? Is it due to the fact that the water absorbs the red's first?

 

[roakey]

The particles in the water that were making the beams visible were reddish.

Though water absorbs reds first, it takes tens of feet to observe the effect.

Roak

 

[radinator]

If things got that dark quickly, you may have been diving in red tide. In that case, it's not the beam that is pink, but the water you are diving in - a brownish red.

 

[DandyDon]

If things got that dark quickly, you may have been diving in red tide. In that case, it's not the beam that is pink, but the water you are diving in - a brownish red.

In freshwater...?!

 

[Greg D.]

Ive had this happen with my little pocket light at ft in freshwater, but when I used my primary at 85 it was white. Has to do with the intensity of the light and depth of the water taking the color out of things you see. I'm no expert but I'm sure someone here will correct me if I'm wrong

 

[do it easy]

I'm not an expert but here is my theory=

human perception of color is pretty complex and i think that since your light has more reds in it than the ambient light that is filtered through the water, it is perceived as pink/pinkish, even though it is still "white light" at the surface.