5 REASONS WHY THE COLOR BLUE IS SO RARE IN NATURE?
Vast skies and oceans doesn't mean that the colour blue is abundant in nature!
We have seen from the very start of our life that the long horizons of skies always appear blue. The vast oceans, which covers almost 70 percent of the earth, are also mostly blue or other variants of blue colour. Surprisingly, blue is not so common when it comes to the plants, flowers and animals living around the vast landscape of earth. We will be exploring scientific reasons behind this scarcity of blue in nature.
The Science Behind Being Blue
We have almost 10 million cells in our eyes which are responsible for our ability to see colours. These cells are highly light-sensitive, and are named as Cones. Different cones are sensitive to different colours. Some of them are sensitive to blue, while some to red, green, yellow or other colours. When we see any objects in nature, actually the object absorbs some colors from the light, and reflects the remaining ones. The cones catch these lights into their sensors and transmit the signals to the brain, and then we see that specific colour.
Rarity In case of The Flowers and Plants
It is estimated that less than 10 percent of all the plant species in the world can generate blue colour. Some of them can generate it through a pigment named anthocyanin. Anthocyanin is actually red. However, plants tweak them by mixing it with some other pigments or some chemical reaction which the scientist still haven't completely figured out. Some of the flowers which show blue are Blue Plumbago and Cornflowers. Humans can't see the ultraviolet spectrums which are responsible for the creation of blue. That's why bees can see the blue in flowers more commonly as they can see the UV spectrums.
Rarity in Avians
There are a few species of birds and butterflies whose wings are blue. They look breathtaking to the normal eyes, however there are reasons why the number is so low. In the case of the butterflies, they have a complex structure on their wings that makes it possible for only the blue colour to reflect. Similarly, the feathers of blue jay birds are angled in such a way that they only reflect the blue colour. Hence, they turn out blue. However, these extremely rare structures are not available in most of the birds.
Rarity in Animals Except Mammals
Blue dart frogs and blue ringed Octopuses are one of the most popular animals famous for their blue appearance. However, they are mostly due to the existence of poison in their body which they use to warn off the predators.
