Evening star., 1901-12-21
DANGERS OF CABLES.
Injury by Fish That Navigate the
Ocean at Great Depth.
From fhe london Telepranh

Injury by Fish That Navigate the
Ocean at Great Depth.
From the London Telegraph.
Unexpected perils await submarine cables,
even in the depths of the ocean. Though
the largest waves in a storm prob
ably do not appreciably disturb the wa
ter beyond the first one hundred faith
oms, If. indeed they go so far, currents
sometimes strong enough to fray the
cable against some submarine crag, and
various living. creatures will do it a mis-
chief. Among them fishes have long been
suspected, and now the charge has been
proved in a cable connecting Sydney with
Nelson. A defect was detected, and on eX-
amining the piece a sharks tooth was
found imbedded in the sheathing. AS that
consisted of the usual thick iron wires and
their outer covering, the aggressor must
have given a hard bite. The motive Is not
easily OWNED. Could the shark have mis-
taken the cable in the imperfect light for
a new species Of conger or did it, which
seems more likely, blunder against it at a
place where it did not touch bottom, and
relieve it's temper by a vicious snap?
A swordfiSh will express its resentment
against vessel by driving the bayonet at
the end of it's nose into the planks, and a
narwhal will use its lance of ivory in SIM
liar fashion; each, like the shark, to it's
own detriment, for 1t illustrates the max
i'm, Cant you leave 1t alone?" by losing
the weapon of offenSe. The conflict be-
tween shark and cable occurred $50 faith
oms below the surface. depth which for
merly was supposed to be almost lifeless.
But deep-sea dredging during the last thir-
ty or forty years told different story In
the open ocean living creatures generally
do not descend below a few hundred feet,
though they are often enormously abun-
dant in this upper layer-the home Of the
countless fishes, mollusks, crustacea, and
in many places Of crowds of tiny foramini-
fera and radiolaria, with a corresponding
abundance Of seaweeds.
But living creatures follow the ocean
slopes downward to very great depths.
Sponges, at least certain kinds, go far be-
low the thousand fathom line. A hydro
zoon two yards long was dredged up by
the Challenger from $500 fathoms, and oc-
casionally q coral or some near relation
may be found at as great a depth. A we'll
known species Of the former was brought
up on a telegraph cable from more than
!, 100 fathoms, and DR.. Carpenter obtained
mollusk, generally found in shallow
water, from not much less than 5000 feet
Even at depths as low as Mount Everest is
high, living creatures have been obtained,
but they are comparatively low in organ
iZation Still, fishes have been captured at
the lowest depths, in which cases they are
often blind. Even where they have eyes,
those in that region If eternal night would
be useless, II they were not able to turn on
the light at will by being provided with
phosphorescent organs. It Is. however, un-
usual to find a shark so deep as nearly a
couple of thousand feet from the surface
Their teeth have, indeed been dredeed IN
from profound depths, imbedded in nodules
nf manganese oxide, but these have drop
ped from the jaws of fishes which have
lived and died in the upper waters and set
tied quietly down to the bottom.