Final answer:
Sea breezes during the day are caused by warmer air rising over the land and being replaced by cooler air from over the ocean, while at night, the reversal occurs with land breezes as the land cools more quickly.
Step-by-step explanation:
During the day, there is often wind blowing toward the shore from the ocean or a large lake; this phenomenon is known as a sea breeze. The formation of sea breezes is a result of the differential heating of land and water. During the day, land heats up more quickly than the water due to its lower specific heat capacity in comparison to water. The warm air above the land rises, creating an area of low pressure. The cooler air over the water, where the air pressure is higher, moves in towards the shore to replace the rising warm air. This cycle creates the sea breeze.
At night, this process is reversed, forming what is known as a land breeze. The land cools down faster than the ocean, resulting in cooler, denser air over the land moving towards the warmer, less dense air over the sea, due to the higher specific heat capacity of the water which allows it to retain heat longer.