How does water affect light waves?

As soon as light enters the water, it interacts with the water molecules and suspended particles to cause loss of light, colour changes, diffusion, loss of contrast and other effects. A photo taken under water at one metre distance is not unlike a telephoto above water at 800 metres distance, both looking bluish while lacking contrast. read more

Red light has lowest frequency, and it so will travel faster in the medium, bending away from the normal, separating from Violet which has the greatest frequency, causing more oscillations, causing more waves with a phase delay which causes the overall wave to decrease in velocity. read more

The most significant property of water that would affect the speed of waves traveling on its surface is the depth of the water. Water waves travel fastest when the medium is the deepest. Thus, if water waves are passing from deep water into shallow water, they will slow down. read more