Unbelievable Vision

For ages the seminomadic Moken representatives have lived by hunting and looking for plants that could be eaten, talking about boats or pretentious dwellings along Myanmar and Thailand.

They received the sea's gifts by traditional ways. With no masks or scuba equipment, they are capable to gather petite shellfish and other creatures on the ocean bottom at depths of 75 feet (approximately 23 meters).

It's not an easy way to stay alive, but scholars have found out that these sea nomads have a significant edge. Scientists, having studied Moken children proved that they have unbelievable underwater vision -- much better than that of European kids of the identical age.

Some scientists conducted researches concerning this phenomenon. One of them, Erika Schagatay, visited the southern part of China studying sea nomads as well as their diving ability. She noted that the kids were choosing little brown shellfish from amongst brown stones. In her opinion, it was beyond her understanding, because she could barely see them with swimming goggles, and because the children did not use any things of the kind. It was not exactly her branch of science, so finally it finished up on the desk of another scientist.

Anna G. went to Surin islands in Thailand and there she conducted underwater researches on Moken children, then compared their results with the ones of European children spending their holidays nearby. Her end results were first available on 13th of May, 2003 in the article of Current Biology.

Anna G. did not find any differences in the kids' respective eye formations or in children's vision on land. Nevertheless, underwater, it was another story. The Moken kids demonstrated underwater vision almost twice as good as their European friends.

Their secret is in the manner their eyes become accustomed to the underwater atmosphere.