Sun glitter definition

If the sea surface is calm, a single mirror-like reflection of the sun can be seen at the horizontal specular point. However, there are generally many thousands of small sun glints observed, where each glint is a reflection of the sunlight from one of many waves, each with a different slope. As an ensemble this is called sun glitter. As this is an effect of reflected light, it can be strongly polarized. See next page for discussion of the effect.