DEEP-SEA DWELLERS

Taranaki Daily News, 23 July 1929, Page 14

DEEP-SEA DWELLERS

EELS’ WONDERFUL HISTORY.

CATCHES OFF NEW ZEALAND.

Amazing creatures caught thousands of feet below the surface of the sea off the New Zealand coast by scientists on the Danish research yacht Dana several months ago were described by Mr. R. A. Falla in an illustrated lantern lecture in the Auckland University College science building on Thursday evening. Mr. Falla, who is shortly to accompany Sir Douglas Mawson to the Antarctic, spent a fortnight on board the Dana at the invitation of Professor Johannes Schmidt. Mr. Falla said Professor Schmidt had spent 25 years in studying the habits of the common eel. He had now established the fact that eels from Europe and North America travelled thousands of miles to their breeding grounds near the West Indies. Upon the eggs hatching the young elvers returned to the home waters, taking a year to reach America and three years to cross the Atlantic to Europe.

It had taken over 20 years of research work to verify these facts, one remarkable feature being that the elvers from the eggs of European and American eels never went to the wrong place. They always separated and journeyed to their respective countries.' This research work was being continued bv the Dana on her present two years’ cruise, and much valuable work had been done on the New Zealand coast. The fortnight off the New Zealand coast had been spent investigating deep and shallow waters, and thousands of specimens were secured, in some instances several hundreds of miles from land. The wonderful wireless sounding gear on the Dana would undoubtedly be productive of much valuable information. It was possible that future deep-sea research work off New Zealand would reveal much useful information regarding habits of fish, their feeding grounds and breeding places, so giving assistan te to the fishing industry.