Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, OCT. 7, 1902. The Deep Sea.

Manawatu Herald, 7 October 1902, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, OCT. 7, 1902. The Deep Sea.

Mobk than half the ocean floor lies at depths of over two miloa, while many parts are four or five miles below the surface, we are informed by those who have been employed in deep sea sounding for telegraph cables, or in scientific research. Lately very much light has been thrown upon the life and movements of darkest ocean, for the sunlight does not extend below a couple of hundred fathoms, and even there becomes very dim. Not only is the deep sea dark, but it is very cold as the influence of the warm surface currents is not felt below a hundred fathoms. In the great depths the temperature is close to freezing point and in the Tropics when dredging under a blazing sun, the men’s hands were chilled in handling the masses of ice-cold mud from the bottom, brought up in the dredge. The pressure of water in the great depths is tremendous, crushing all objects that are not constructed to withstand it. All deep-sea instruments are made to resist sea pressure, which is about a ton to the square inch of surface with each mile in depth. At the greatest depth known there would, therefore, be a pressure of nearly six tons to each square inch of surface. The air pressure at the surface of the earth is only fourteen pounds to the square inch, thus until the “ Albatros,” a scientific trawler, published the results of her cruise, it was doubtful if a living fish wtiild be found at the deep depths. Life in wonderfully shaped forms, hay# been

found at all depths, but the fishes who live near the surface are unable to live if they go down too deep, just as those formed to dwell in great depths, are unable to live near the surface, in fact fish taken from great depths die before reaching the surface when lifted in the trawl net. The wonders of nature are shown in these discoveries and are worthy of deep attention, showing how every portion of the world is adapted to sustain life and how each form has been fashioned to increase and muitipy exceeding in places which means sudden death to other forms. In the last London Magazine there is a very interesting illustrated article on those discoveries, and should be road. The dark region at the bottom of the oceans is illuminated only where there are animals, in which case the light is phosphorescent. The eyes of deep-sea animals are not like those developed under sun-light. Some of the species are blind ; those that have eyes probably capture their prey by the phosphorescent light shed from their own bodies and the bodies of the vast number of other creatures that are constantly flashing their faint lamps over the ocean floor, [’be deep-sea animals have tissues sufficiently watery to equalise the crushing weight of the seas. A fish called the deep-sea Angler is a wonderful looking creature, as projecting from its nose is a rod with a bend iu it reaching almost to the tail, which nature has baited, by making it luminous. Another curious fish has filaments like wings from its side, and a tail to match, which are luminous, which is found at a depth of one and a half miles. At the same distance down dwells the “ Gastrostomus,” which has small eyas, an enermous month, and luminous spots on i f s body.

Very few large iUh have y • been taken, owing to the size of up lodging not used. Tb-j larm- c ; five fear, but it is bsUevc i with different net soma very Im p may be discovered. It is possible that the fabled sea serpent may be secured as the foasiled remains of serpentshaped animals have been found which were over one hundred feet long. Many deep-sea fishes have monstrous shapes with their long bodies and voracious-looking jaws, which, if found swimming near the surface might have been mistaken for the sea-serpent. To show the difficulty there is in taking big fish, the author says. “No huge monsters from ocean’s depths have yet rewarded the zeal of the sea explorers. An airship sailing a mile above tbs land, dragging a ten-foot-wide dredge on the surface of the earth would also have little chance of getting anything but the smallest and slowest animals ; the largest animals on land could not'be taken in it, and most creatures would scarcely be so stupid as to enter it. It is improbable that large animals lying on the muddy floor of the ocean possess the shyness or wariness of land animals, and the chances for the capture of startling forms at great depths will increase with the development of larger machines of capture, and the power to handle them.”