The Skin That Sees

The fourth morning, Chiara had a colour test. She put three plates on the tank floor. Red. Blue. Yellow.

Pagi keempat, Chiara melakukan tes warna. Dia meletakkan tiga piring di dasar tangki. Merah. Biru. Kuning.

Under one plate, a piece of shrimp was hidden. Today it was under the red plate.

Di bawah salah satu piring, ada sepotong udang yang disembunyikan. Hari ini udangnya ada di bawah piring merah.

"Octopuses are colour-blind," Chiara said. "Their eyes cannot tell colours apart."

"Gurita itu buta warna," kata Chiara. "Mata mereka tidak bisa membedakan warna."

"But watch," she said.

"Tapi lihat ini," katanya.

Pasta uncurled. Two arms went out. They passed over the blue plate. They passed over the yellow plate. They stopped over the red plate. One arm lifted it. Pasta took the shrimp.

Pasta mulai bergerak. Dua lengannya keluar. Mereka melewati piring biru. Mereka melewati piring kuning. Mereka berhenti di atas piring merah. Satu lengan mengangkatnya. Pasta mengambil udangnya.

"She is not blind to colour," Chiara said. "But it is not her eyes that see it."

"Dia tidak buta warna," kata Chiara. "Tapi bukan matanya yang melihatnya."

Scientists have learned that octopus skin can sense light. The same kind of cells that are in human eyes are in octopus skin. The skin can see colours.

Para ilmuwan telah mempelajari bahwa kulit gurita bisa merasakan cahaya. Jenis sel yang sama dengan yang ada di mata manusia juga ada di kulit gurita. Kulit bisa melihat warna.

This is how a colour-blind animal can copy the colours of coral and sand. The eyes do not see the colours. The skin does.

Inilah cara hewan yang buta warna bisa meniru warna karang dan pasir. Mata tidak melihat warnanya. Kulit yang melakukannya.

Polly walked slowly along the rim of the tank. She had never thought about her own eyes. The idea that an animal could see with its skin was very strange.

Polly berjalan perlahan di sepanjang tepi tangki. Dia belum pernah memikirkan tentang matanya sendiri. Ide bahwa seekor hewan bisa melihat dengan kulitnya sangat aneh.