Why are sea kayak/touring paddles so looooooong?

I do whitewater mostly, raced slalom a lot in the past. As a result of all the slalom training, I have a a very high angle paddle stroke with a lot of core rotation.

I’m the proud new owner of a sea kayak, and I’ve just been using my trusty 197cm Werner powerhouse. Seating position in the sea kayak is very similar to my creekboat, so it feels very natural to me.

I’ve looked at getting a dedicated paddle for the sea kayak, and noticed the recommended length for a 6’1 guy is around the 220cm mark. That seems absurd to me, what do I do with all that extra length? I can’t really imagine needing more length. Is there a reason sea kayak paddles are traditionally so long?