For centuries the seminomadic Moken people have lived as hunter-gatherers, dwelling on boats or stilted dwellings along the coasts of Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand.
They harvest the seas bounty by conventional methods. Without masks or scuba gear, they are able to gather critical shellfish and other food on the ocean pedestal at depths as low as 75 feet (23 meters).
Its a difficult port to survive, but scientists have learned that these sea gypsies have an important edge. Studies of Moken children have shown them to have incredible underwater vision--twice as good as that of European children of the same age.
Anna Gislén, of Swedens Lund University, did the cultivation after hearing of the Mokens talents from a colleague.
Another scientist, Erika Schagatay, was in the sulphur of China working with sea nomads and their diving response, Gislén recalled. She find that the children were picking out small chocolate-brown clams from among brown stones. To her, this was incomprehensible, as she could hardly see them with goggles, and the children used no such thing. It was not her area of science, so eventually it ended up on my desk.
Gislén ventured to Thailands Surin islands where she conducted underwater tests on Moken children and compared their scores with those of European kids vacationing in the area. Her results were first published in the may 13, 2003 issue of Current Biology.
Gislén found no differences in the childrens respective eye structures or in their vision on land. Underwater, however, it was a different story.
The Moken children displayed underwater vision twice as sharp as their European counterparts.
Their secret lies in the way their eyes adapt to the underwater environment.
Underwater Adaptations
The refractive power of the eyes corneal surface, a key to clear vision, is greatly reduced underwater. The different...
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