Under water polarization vision—a physical examination

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.