Laboratory measurements of light beam depolarization by a turbulent flow, corresponding to oceanic turbulence within the oceanic mixed layer, show that the depolarization rate ( $1\times {10}^{-5}{\mathrm{m}}^{-1}$ to $3\times {10}^{-3}{\mathrm{m}}^{-1}$ ) correlates with turbulence strength and is consistent with polarized lidar observations [ Opt. Express, 16, 1196 (2008)]. These results imply that one should be able to characterize oceanic turbulence with polarimetric oceanic lidar measurements.