Due to the absorption of water body and strong scattering of suspended particles, there is a serious “curtain effect” in underwater optical imaging, which causes the details of the target in the scene to be submerged in the background scattered light, and the image contrast is greatly reduced. Due to the uniqueness and difference of target information and background information, the underwater polarization imaging technology developed from the polarization characteristics of light field can effectively suppress the scattering light of underwater background. The polarization differences between the target information light and the background scattered light are used to separate them effectively and realize the clear imaging. At present, underwater polarization imaging technology is developing rapidly, which has been widely used in many fields and new research results. This paper systematically introduces the basic principle, implementation algorithm, and imaging effect of underwater polarization imaging technology, and analyzes and prospects the future development of underwater polarization imaging technology according to the advantages and disadvantages of existing technologies.