How do mer-folk see underwater?

[Old Man of the Mountain]

In my story, a few humans travel underwater to the kingdom of the mer-folk. It is at the bottom of the sea, which I assume to be quite dark. There is a little glowing moss and reeds etc, but these would not be really useful to the humans.

So I added the concept of stones that emit light. They are quarried from a separate part of the sea floor, and are mostly available to the wealthy. Large buildings (built of stone blocks) would have a few shining stones interspersed on their walls and floor to brighten up things.

My question is, is there something of this sort in any of the myths? It would be great if I could link it to something existing.

Thanks!

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Myths I don't know about, but there are plenty of creatures that fluouresce underwater. Fish, jellyfish, some coral and algae etc. It may be possible that they harvest phosporescent algae from their fields, put them in little goldfish bowls with a few nutrients and light their city that way.

But yes, the deeper you go the darker it gets down there. Anywhere below a hundred feet is dark enough that people will be blind. Maybe the Merfolk also have better eyesight, bigger eyes - one reason they might not be able to come to the surface except at night.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[wordwalker]

It could be a combination of three things: better eyes, light sources, and maybe also using sonar or water-motion-sensitivity or other senses.

I like the "eyes" aspect and the sense that merfolk prefer night if they come topside; it keeps them a bit creepy and awkward up here. (Hmm, my Marvel Universe Handbook says that the Sub-Mariner and others have eyes "very sensitive to the green portion of the spectrum," because that's what penetrates the ocean most.)

Lighting has fun implications too. We don't exactly think of merfolk as carrying undersea lanterns around, but we do think of Atlantis-es as shining with strange lights when you get close enough to see it. Besides, I think it's 90% of sea life that's found within six feet of either the surface (where all the oxygen comes from) or the floor (where a lot of the food builds up), so merfolk might be used to either finding or building light in only certain places and being more awkward in the middle depths.

And there's always sonar or other senses to make up the difference. It might be that merfolk soldiers are more trained, chosen, or bred to make the best use of that, while civilians are more "depth-blind."

 

[Telcontar]

I like the idea of giving them a sonar capability. Then they could also talk to whales and dolphins - you know, the friendly sea creatures...

 

[Old Man of the Mountain]

I cannot really use the enhancing-the-little-light aspect because a part of my story takes place among the exiles of the mer-world. There are mer-people banished to total darkness, and as a result they become grossly disfigured.

I guess I'll go with the special stone thing and create my own myth.

Thanks for the replies though!

 

[Feo Takahari]

I didn't mention this before, since it's not an established myth, but can the merfolk THEMSELVES glow? I can't remember the title, but I'm certain I've read at least one short story with merfolk modeled on anglerfish--the exiles could be ones whose lures were cut off.

 

[Butterfly]

In real world science, quartz crystals glow when rubbed together.

Pressure on quartz also creates light and a type of electrical charge. - Think water pressure.

So, it is possible for certain types of crystals to light up naturally. There is a possibility (in fantasy) that a more powerful material could be found under the sea.

I think it's a bit more realistic to go with the crystals rather than stones though.

 

[SeverinR]

Hi,

Myths I don't know about, but there are plenty of creatures that fluouresce underwater. Fish, jellyfish, some coral and algae etc. It may be possible that they harvest phosporescent algae from their fields, put them in little goldfish bowls with a few nutrients and light their city that way.

But yes, the deeper you go the darker it gets down there. Anywhere below a hundred feet is dark enough that people will be blind. Maybe the Merfolk also have better eyesight, bigger eyes - one reason they might not be able to come to the surface except at night.

Cheers, Greg.

yea, I think now that you mention it, the Meremaids did have big...eyes. :O

I think if merfolk did go deep, they would avoid the bright light of daytime top side. If they see without light below, then the daylight from above would be very painful. Possibly the pain would subside if they get use to it, but it could be too much of a change and wouldn't get use to it. But during the worst of it they would be effectively blind and probably helpless. Think of dark theater walking into bright sunlight x2 or 3.