The Press. SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1907. THE CRUISE OF THE NORA NIVEN.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12825, 8 June 1907, Page 8

The Press. SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1907. THE CRUISE OF THE NORA NIVEN.

Hitherto the New Zealand Government has displayed a carefully restrictodl interest in scientific matters; but wo can only hope that in this respect the future may have better things in store for us.' In a few weelcß Dr. Starr Jordan, of tho Leland-Stanford University, will be with us. Ho is one of the greatest authorities living on tho fishes of th© Pacific Ocean. Ho has just finished an investigation into tbo fishes of tho Japanese Seas; and his coming visit to New Zealand might havo afforded us an excellent opportunity of retaindng his services to report upon the fisheries of our coast. However no step has been taken in this direction ; and it is hopeless to expect that anything will now bo don© to obtain tho help of this distinguished scientist. But though this opportunity has boon missed, the Government are doing excellent work in sending forth tli© littlo Nora Nivon, which left on Thursday to investigate the character of the doepor fishing grounds around our coast. Few realiso what valuo the ocean ought to bo to us, as a sourco of our food supply. So important -s the investigation of tho fisheries in the North Atlantic considered, that an international organisation has been fornied for the purpose of carrying it out. Great Britain, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Norway. Sweden, Fillland, Russia and Belgium are all officially represented on the "consoil permanent international pour l'oxploratio:i do la mer" as ft is termed. This body was originated in 1899; but did not commence work until 1902. During tlie five years that havo elapsed since thon it has done enough useful work to justify its existence ten times over. Tho various Governments which wero at first inclined to look upom it as a luxury if not a fad, now se© in it a necessity. Th© work of tha Council is carried on along threo main lines of investigation. Firstly, tho physical changes of tho sea—such as alterations in temperature, salinity, and currents—are studied with great care. Th© exploring vessels conduct simultaneous investigations all over the North Sea. It is recognised that tho work done by a solitary vessel is of little valuo in determining periodio changes in the drift, temperature, and salinity of largo bodies of water. ict it ia most important that theso shoukl be known, ns they control, to a large extent, the migrations and spawning seasons ct many of the most important foodfishes. This work has already given the "coup de grace" to the great Gulf stream myth, which, doubtless, mi few years' time, will have disappeared oven from school text books. Tfie Gulf stream itself does not touch t-n_ shores of Or sat Britain, though it produces certain secondary currents which, to some *xt*nt, influsaws the climate. The great drifts which bring tha bwrring shoak intra also boon carefully studied, and much valuable information obtained with regard to them. The second \l w of research is chiefly biological, and dcafe with th© life his-

Tories of tbo fishes and of tho organisms with which they are associated, and upon which they feed. Let ns shortly exemplify this type of work. It is perhaps not generally known mat tho fresh water eel readies its maturo condition only in tho abysmal depths of ocean. It leaves the rivers and lakes, puts on a bright coat of scales, goes down te the sea and descends into its abysses, and there mates. This strange life history was partially unravelled by certain Italian scientists some years ago; but it remained to -_c International Council to definitely provo its truth by capturing the young eels at a depth of more than 3000 feet, south-west of the Fa/roe Islands. Other work dono has been the closer investigation of tho dliatonis of the North Sea. These aro misroscopic unicellular plants which form a large portion of tho food material of many marine organisms, and who6e abundance to a largo extent determines tho abundance of other forms of marine life. Tho third line of investigation consists in a statistical 6tudy of tho number of fishes existing in certain areas, and in tlio investigation of other matters of direct commercial value. It is found, for example, that tho size of tho plaice in a given locality is proportionate to the depth in which the fish live. If contour lines aro drawn round the Dutch coast tho sizo of the plaice in the areas enclosed can be predicted with great accuracy. Another method of research is te mark and liberate living fishes. In this way much useful information has been obtained with regard te their migrations. In New Zealand wo are at present in complete ignorance of all such matters. Wo scarcely even know, as yet, our food fishes. We know nothing of their habits and breeding grounds. Yet much may be learned even from a small and systematic search, such as will be mado by tho Nora Niven. A small, efficiently-equipped vessel of this kind often does much better work than a much moro costly and pretentious expedition. Messrs Ayson and Waito will doubtless not only add much to our knowledge of tho best fishing grounds along our coasts, but will collect a largo quantity of material of valuo to our local scientists. Tho boat is equipped with a Thomson sounding apparatus, and though deep-sea sounding is not one of tho special objects of the cruise, yet something will be added to our knowledgo of the ocean basin around us. Wo do not envy tho investigators their experience* of bitter winter nights in a little boat tumbling in our* stormy seas, but we hope their trip may be a successful ono and productive of much benefit to the colony.