As early as 1917, scientific studies had discovered that some sea organisms, including fish, respond to electromagnetic fields and light generated within their aquatic environments. Scientists have shown that catfish in an aquarium exhibit an immediate reaction when an electromagnetic field is applied to water within the aquarium. By the 1950s hundred of fish species were classified and ranked by their degree of response to electromagnetic fields.
It has further been discovered that many fish are capable of sensing electromagnetic impulses generated by other fishes. In fact, some marine research has indicated that some fish, such as sharks, salmon, sturgeon and trout, possess active nerve cells on their bodies that act as electro-receptors that sense electromagnetic fields and can detect changes in the electromagnetic fields, moving ions and charged particles within their aquatic surroundings. Research has shown that some marine life-forms are able to effectively detect and monitor ultraviolet light and/or electro magnetic fields to navigate and locate prey in their aquatic environments.
The research has indicated that a number of marine life species can see or detect objects in water that emit ultraviolet light in the ultraviolet light spectrum of (320 nm-400 nm). This is at least in part because the retinal cones of fish eyes are sensitive to objects that emit ultraviolet light against a dark back drop of deep ocean water. Another reason is that ultraviolet light is effective at attracting marine life is that violet light exhibits a low absorption coefficient in an aquatic environment and, therefore, can be detected by marine life from a distance in aquatic environments.