FISHING FOR EELS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 297, 1 December 1928, Page 6

FISHING FOR EELS

A SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION.

DANES COMING TO NEW

ZEALAND.

Apia, Nov., 13.

Samoa being an out of the way place, it frequently catches out of the way visitors, from private yachts to wandering warships. The latest unusual arrival i s the Dutch ship Dana, which made a leisurely trip to Apia from Raratonga. The Dana is only a small vessel of IGO tons, but she is engaged on an important mission, and includes in her compliment of 25,' five scientists, and will later be joined by the leader of the party, Professor Schmidt, in New Zealand.

Altogether the Dana is making an investigation generally of marine life of the Pacific, the main object is to study the marine stages of freshwater eels, which form an important article of diet in Denmark. As is generally known, the life of the eel is somewhat of a mystery, and the location of the spawning grounds in the various oceans is part of the work of the scientists on the Dana. For this purpose they are making a two years’ cruise, which will cover the main oceans, the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Dana, which was originally a mine sweeper, has been specially equipped for its present work with apparatus which enables deep sea investigation to a depth of 5000 fathoms, and she also carries a new model sounding apparatus, known as the Echo sounder. Twice a week the Dana communicates direct with Copenhagen by its wireless, reporting on its investigation and future plans. During their short stay in Samoa, the scientists of the Dana fished for eels in several of the fresh wate: rivers, and gathered valuable data. The ship left Apia for Suva, Fiji, on the 7th instant.