The paper discusses a simple empirical method for calculating spectra of the light backscattering coefficient bb(λ) in Baltic Sea surface waters based on the remote-sensing reflectance Rrs(λ). This method relies on the following two aspects: 1) the existence of a relatively strong statistical correlation between these two optical quantities in the red light wavelength range (e.g. at 620 nm), and 2) the fact that backscattering coefficients at other wavelengths can be approximated from their values estimated in the red part of the spectrum. Possible applications are described. This method is applicable as one of the stages in simple algorithms for estimating spectra of the light absorption coefficient in seawater, without the need for any a priori assumptions regarding the spectral shape of absorption by dissolved and suspended seawater constituents.