The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-08
FISHES IN A BIG STORM.
How They Seek shelter From the
Fury of the waters.
From the Philadelphia Times.


From the Philadelphia Times.
The high-water mark on the beaches
! and marshes along the Atlantic coast is
always an interesting study after a heavy
storm at sea. The wind and waves wash
everything that floats upon the coast,
! and the receding tides leaves them strand
ed high and dry, forming long irregular
mark that may be followed for miles in
either direction. No curiosity shop ever
presented a more varied and curious col
| lection of articles. Things that float upon
the sea and that live under its waters
! birds of the air, animals of the land, ar
ucleS OF manufacture and commerce. pro-
ducts OF every part of the globe are jun
bled together upon the sands. or twisted
and wound around among the drifts of
sea weed. more wonderful sight could
not be imagined.
There are marine curiosities washed IN
from the lower depths of the sea during
J heavy storms that excite the admiration
and wonder of scientists, and thousan ds
of fishes meet their death during every
such great disturbance of the sea. On the
approach of a storm the sea-birds fly
landWard with warning cries, but some
are caught by the wind and dashed merci-
lessly upon the waves to be washed upon
the coast Thousands of birds are killed
and drowned in this way, every summer
and winter, and during a succession of
heavy sea storms, the mortality among
sea fowls is so great that sportsmen won
der at their sudden disappearance. But
the mortality among the fishes of the deep
| is almost as great, and among the marine
curiosities that are strewn along the
! beach are hundreds of deep-sea fishes. the
like of which were never brought to the
| surface by hook and line.
When the surface becomes much rtIf1ad
the fishes always seek the deep water. or
run up into sheltered bays and coves. They
] have ways of reading the weather as well
as the birds of the air. and they are not
slow to avail themselves of their knowl-
edge. If caught in shallow water along
an exposed beach, there would be little
chance of their escape. The heavy swells
| and breakers would dash them upon the
sands
OF course, few are always caught in
! such dangerous places and others are car
| RED there by the force of the tide. but
the great majority seek the quieter waters,
FARTHER out from the shore. An ordinary
storm rutties only the surface of the ocean.
and the fishes find safe place by sinking
| moderate distance; but during the pro-
gress of tempest, the agitated condition
of the ocean descends in direct proportion
to the severity and the length of the dis
4 turbance.
er, striving to escape from the heavy swell
and rush of the waves. There are times
when they cannot escape in this way. The
J pressure of the water becomes so great
that they cannot go deeper, and live, and
I the agitation Of the water carries them
along in the direction of the storm.
In many cases the lower depths Of the
sea are so stirred by the storm that the
submarine fishes-those that only live far
below the surface, and in total darkness
are washed up until caught in the strong
tide that is sweeping along before the
wind, These submarine creatures are to-
/ tally helpless then, and they are finally
! landed upon the sand to be studied by some
scientist or curiosity seeker.
Many strange and uncanny looking crea-
lures are thus presented TO the sight
Along with them are unique specimens of
deep sea algae that have been torn up by
the rude shock OF the waves. Even the
shells that lie upon the bottom of the