Measurements of total irradiance versus depth and beam transmission versus depth were made at stations near shore along the west coast of the North and South American Continents. The water types at each station were optically classified according to the system of Jerlov (1976), thus providing additional information for the description of the distribution of the world's ocean water types. In addition, the parameter k/c, where k is the irradiance attenuation coefficient and c is the beam attenuation coefficient, has been shown to be a useful parameter for determing the relative particle concentrations of ocean water.