What light phenomenon causes the sparkling waves on the water?

The wave light received by the eyes comes from the mirror reflection of sunlight through the water surface. The wind blows across the water surface, making the water surface no longer flat, and the light reflected through the water surface also changes, just like a fixed mirror suddenly changes. When it shakes, the direction of the light it reflects is no longer fixed.

Specular reflection

That is, the reflecting surface of the object is smooth and the light is reflected in parallel, such as a mirror, water surface, etc.

A beam of parallel light strikes a plane mirror. The reflected light is parallel, and this reflection is called specular reflection;

When a beam of light hits an uneven object, its reflected light also shoots in different directions, not parallel, so We can only see the same object from different places. Otherwise, if it is all mirror reflection, we can only see the object when we stand in a specific place.

Specular reflection refers to the reflection of reflected waves (electromagnetic waves, or sound waves, water waves) with a certain direction; the direction of the reflected wave is at an angle (reflection angle) with the normal line of the reflection plane, and is with the direction of the incident wave. The angles between the normals of the reflection plane (angle of incidence) are equal, and the incident wave, reflected wave, and plane normal are in the same plane. When taking photos, you should avoid specular reflection light entering the camera lens. Because the specular reflection light is extremely strong, it will form a white bright spot on the photo, which will affect the appearance of the ground objects themselves on the photo.