You can consider this installment four of my previous question which is the third installment.
Throughout history, we have developed many methods of telling time. The most famous two examples being the clock and the sundial. The ancient Egyptians invented the clepsydra, an extremely simple device that uses dripping water as a way to tell how much time has passed. There are also, for example, hourglasses, which flow sand as a measurement of time.
Suppose, though, you were an intelligent dolphin and, for some reason, had to always have a time reference on you. Being under the water seems to present a challenge, for technology like clocks and hourglasses don’t seem to be possible to make under the water, a clepsydra certainly wouldn’t work since you can’t pour water underwater, and a sundial wouldn’t have the proper lighting. So you must improvise in order to find a way to keep track of time. How would you improvise in order to keep track of time.
For simplicity, I’d ask the closest crab wearing a watch. Otherwise, I’d watch the tide bubbles and see if they are traveling east or west.
How many up downs of my flip flop.
You’ll find time loses importance once you no longer have to manage it.
Mammals have to breathe, so they are surfacing from time to time… so roughly they’ll know day from night.
Tides are mostly noticeable near land.
So you have deep sea creatures away from shore. They mostly won’t care about day and night as there’s no difference, with light not penetrating more that about 200 feet.
So below 200 feet, and away from shore you mostly can’t. But also it would not matter as there’s no difference
But if you were a human, in a submarine or a diving vessel where you needed to know, a clock or radio… would be about the options
Not all care, but it still impacts them.
Beyond this, the diurnal cycle does filter down into the disphotic zone and does influence species. It does weaken with depth.
A reverse clepsydra: an air-filled container that releases bubbles at a constant rate.
If I were an Intelligent sea creature I would just use my waterproof watch but idk about others
The tides?
Shadows can still cast underwater, so you could use a rock as a sundial or just how light it is at a certain depth.
Tides
How would you measure that when not at a shore?
You’d think this would be obvious. Plus tides aren’t tied to the sun but the moon. You’d practically need an underwater Antikythera mechanism to keep track.
Wtf would I care? It’s not Like I’m gonna have have office hours. Hungry? Dinner time!
this is the way. retvrn to water monke. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galápagos_(novel)
