Why did pirates wear eye patches?

At the beginning of May every year in Lake Charles, we celebrate the Louisiana Pirate Festival. Pirates are often shown wearing an eye patch over one of their eyes. Do you know why that is? Some pirates may have worn the patch because of an eye injury, but many pirates likely wore a patch over one eye to help when plundering. An eye covered by a patch would adjust well to darkness and would see well when going below deck on a ship. An episode of “Myth Busters” tested this theory. Their findings showed that keeping one eye covered with a patch proved quite effective when transitioning quickly from daylight above deck to darkness below. Pirates did not leave written record of their reasoning for wearing an eye patch, but this is a pretty good theory about why the eye patch was such a popular accessory for pirates.