Under water polarization vision-A physical examination

Abstract

The underwater light field, which is nearly permanently and ubiquitously partially polarized, offers polarization sensitive animals special cues for mediating various visual tasks. For the last fifty years, underwater polarization patterns have been studied with respect to their origin and their dependence on the optical properties of the medium, be it the atmosphere or the hydrosphere. This was accomplished largely by in-situ measurements and analytical and numerical modeling of underwater polarization patterns. The mechanisms involved in the sensitivity of animals to the polarization of light and the manners in which these animals utilize the underwater polarization were examined for many species. Here we present an integrative review of the current physical and biological knowledge in the polarization vision domain, discuss the constraints imposed on polarization mediated tasks, and evaluate the benefit of such research to human beings.