When you think of the ocean, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? That it covers most of the planet? Or that it’s salty? Maybe you think of it as a fun place to go vacation. And maybe your first thought is how it’s so blue. That’s what I think. And the same is true with the sky. So blue. But have you ever noticed how blue is rare when it comes to the creatures on Earth?

With so much blue water and sky, why is blue so rare in creatures?

Well, I read an article that talked about how creatures’ feathers, fur, and skin colors almost always come from pigments. And those pigments are chemicals that absorb specific wavelengths of light and other reflections.

And animals get those pigments from what they eat.

Like a flamingo, for example. Flamingos start out gray. But they get their bright pink color from the pink beta-carotene that comes from all the algae and brine shrimp they eat. Pretty cool.

But here’s the deal with blue pigments. There are just about no truly blue pigments on our little, blue planet. So, most blue creatures get their color from the way the molecules on their body reflect light.

And even cooler than that is how the Blue Morpho butterfly has ridges in its wings that reflect light and use “optical effects, like interference, to create all that brilliant beauty.

But let’s bump up the coolness to the max.

Because the different ways creatures appear to be blue are all based on coded information. By the best information coder the world has ever known (or ever will). Yeah, I know it’s crazy talk to say it. But all that beautiful design you find out there on this beautiful planet was put here by a…gasp!…Designer.

And that’s why I wrote a song about it for kids when I was the music director at a church in Denver. Here’s the first verse of…

Why?

Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green?
And Why is the sun gold? What does it all mean?
Why is the air clear? And why is the ground brown?
Why does the earth float and never fall down?

(The answer is in the song)

© 2010 Tony Funderburk

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