Wanda Willis, age 10, of Franklin, N. C., for her question:

Is the Red Sea really red?

There are times when the Red Sea glows with a coppery sheen and there are times when its waters are rosy pink. It lies in a region of dry, reddish sand and coral hills. Its waters are more salty than the open ocean and its temperature averages about 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sometimes an angry storm whips up the sandy bottom of the sea and this gives a coppery glow to the water. The sea is also the home of certain red colored algae. These little water plants are too small to be seen one at a time, but they cloud the water much as the green algae cloud the water of your fish bowl. There are times when the red algae multiply into great numbers. The Red Sea then blushes with what we c.al l an algae bloom.