Galveston is trending for some unknown reason, and there's some trash talk from folks (from other parts of the country where ocean waters are deep blue) tweeting they were horrified when they visited the island and found brown waters. Naturally, they assume pollution. Wrong.

The water looks that way (and always has) due to a complex set of factors of GEOLOGY not pollution. First of all, there's five rivers in Texas that bring sediment to the Gulf and near the shoreline. And there's a large one to our East - the Mississippi River - which does as well.

The waters at Galveston are shallow, compared to, say, parts of the Florida Gulf coastline, where sea flora filters the sediment away, or father down the Texas coast to Padre Island, where the complex actions of a natural barrier bar system helps to keep those beaches pristine.

With the Trinity River, Brazos River, and the Colorado River all emptying into Galveston Bay, there's just simply a lot of sediment in a shallow part of the coastal shelf. It's rarely that color more than 200 yards offshore, where it turns blue.

In fact, if you're on the water, you can detect an approach to a large coast by observing the change in color of the water - because sediment and organic nutrients from river deltas.

The geology of the area just keeps is all there longer, rather than rapidly dispersing into the ocean. If you look closely into the waters off the beaches in Galveston you'll see the sand and sediment constantly churning and suspended in the water. The water is *sandy*.

Anyway, I have many fond memories of my childhood "not Caribbean-beach-like but instead an example of the science all around us" beach visits to Galveston in the 70s and 80s. I just wish more people would learn a thing or two about our planet.

In conclusion, quit trash-talking the natural landscape of Texas or I'll throw more science, geology, and history at your ignorant and bigoted takes. The end.