Coloring My World

Dear Undercurrent,

At the ripe age of almost 63, I am going to order a prescription bifocal mask from SeaVision, which was discussed favorably in your Sept 2011 issue. The problem is they offer lenses in clear, magenta, and yellow. I was hoping you had published something discussing the pros and cons of colored lenses.

- Hugh Aaron (Tallahassee, FL)

Dear Hugh,

Our brains have a remarkable ability to adjust. For example, our eyes see an inverted image, but our brain re-inverts it. It's the same with color.

If you wear a mask (or glasses!) with colored lenses, at first everything looks that color until you get used to it. When you take it off, for a moment, everything will look the complementary color as your brain re-adjusts.

It's the same underwater. A colored red mask lens will eliminate the blue until your brain adjusts. When you surface and remove your mask, everything will look the complimentary color (very blue) for a moment.

Unlike a camera, which might need a filter, our brains make the adjustment underwater, just as they do in forms of light other than daylight - so in my opinion, colored lenses are just one more thing, like pointer sticks, that divers don't need.

- John Bantin