Inspired by photographer Bryant Austin’s life size photographs of whales, particularly their eyes, Alexis Madrigal of The Atlantic sought to find out how, and what, whales see. Madrigal explains how the visual system works (turns out humans have some of the best visual acuity among mammals), and then how the visual system of whales operates.
Whales don’t see in colour – they see shades of grey. They also have two points of focus, as the position of their eyes generally doesn’t allow for overlapping visual fields. Think of a sperm whale, viewed head on. Its eyes are on opposite sides of its head. How its brain makes sense of the information it receives visually, is still a mystery. Herman Mellville speculated on this puzzle in Moby Dick.
Austin’s descriptions of encounters with the whales he photographed are moving, and reminded me of Paul Nicklen’s encounter with a helpful leopard seal when producing Polar Obsession.
Read the article here.
