As soon as the brief was mentioned I instantly thought of the idea of an aquatic creature. When thinking about the idea within the brief of a 'Brave New World', I wanted to consider the idea of someone exploring the seabed and going to the deepest places such as the Mariana Trench, the deepest point of the ocean at 10,971 meters below sea level. Scientists know less about the seabed than they do of the moon's surface so the thought a hybrid explorer would be a really interesting concept to work on. I began to consider what features a human may need to adopt from a fish to be able to survive underwater for long periods of time for the exploration. One of the fish that I was initially inspired by was the Epaulette fish. I remember watching the BBC Documentary 'Shark' where this fish, who inhabits the Great Barrier Reef, was featured. The shark has the ability to walk on its fins whilst on the land to move itself between rock pools at low tide. These sharks are also able to survive without oxygen sixty times longer than humans, making them very well adapted for their habitat and way of moving between the pools. This ability to walk on land instantly drew comparisons for me to humans and helped to inspire me to want to create a human fish that has the ability to walk.
Gills:
Fish have gills to filter oxygen out of water as well as allowing the water to dispose of the carbon dioxide. Fish push the water through the gills past small blood vessels which the oxygen then seeps through. As the oxygen seeps in, carbon dioxide seeps out. Fish therefore need to keep swimming to keep water pushing through the gills supplying them with oxygen. I therefore thought that gills would be an important feature of a fish to combine in my character creature. The use of the gills would go along well with the idea of exploration and survival and spending long periods of time underwater.
Scales:
Scales are small pieces of bone overlapping on a fish to protect its soft body. The scales help fish to move through the water as well as protecting them from predators by creating a slippery surface. The scales also help to protect the fish against the rough surface of coral. The idea of protection from predators and rough surfaces is also another interesting concept that I would like to include as my creature will need to be protected from the potential dangers of being an explorer.
Eyes:
Fish have many of the same components as a human eye but are structured differently. The cornea of a fish's eye is very round so that the fish can pick up different images from the environment around it. This can be done to 360 degrees. Unlike humans, fish, apart from some shark, do not have an adjustable iris. This means that they find adjusting to bright light difficult. Fish also have large eyes to let in higher levels of light which help them to see better in the darker areas of deep water. Therefore I would like to try to include the look of larger eyes in my hybrid as the idea of seeing properly and clearly is imperative.
Webbed Fins:
Webbed fins are used by fish to help propel them further in the water. The fins are located at different points of the body to help with different functions, for example turning or keeping an upright position. Webbed fins are clearly an important feature of fish as they are imperative to their survival. My hybrid will also need to be able to move freely and easily through the water therefore webbed fins are an element that I would like to include. Humans have already adapted this idea through the use of diving fins so it is clearly a worthwhile concept.
Sources:
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/09/how-fish-gills-work/
http://australianmuseum.net.au/fish-scales
http://www.earthlife.net/fish/sight.html
http://www.saburchill.com/chapters/chap0012.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2CslF8f9WKWdlw1grrd7Cdk/epaulette-shark
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