In the present paper, aiming at the problem of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) applyication in ocean detection, the effects of laser wavelength on the detection of Ca in water solution were investigated. The evolvement characteriza tion of electron density was studied by analyzing the time resolved spectra of the plasma. The experimental results show that the lifetime of plasma is about 1 200 and 600 ns respectively induced by 1 064 and 532 nm laser. Based on the optical transmission characteristic and the LIBS experimental results, the dependence of needed laser energy before incidence into water E(iopt)(r) for optimal detection effect on the detection distance in water was found, and the dependence was simulated by applying to the in situ detection in water solution. The simulated results suggest that the needed laser energy of 1 064 nm laser before incidence into water is about 100 mJ when the detection distance is no larger than 5 cm. When the detection distance increases to 10 cm, the needed laser energy of 532 nm before incidence into water is only about 30 mJ. So it should be considered to choose 532 nm laser as the ablation source with the increase in the in situ detection distance.