Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1902-01-24
DANGERS TO OCEAN CABLES.
They Must Resist the Attacks Of Many Subma-
rine Monsters.
Tolo

They Must Resist the Attacks of Many Subma-
rine Monsters.
London Telegraph
Unexpected perils await submarine
cables, even in the depths of the
ocean. Though the largest waves in
storm probably do not apweciably dis
turb the water beyond the first 100
fathoms, if indeed, they 60 so far. cur
rents are sometimes strong enough to
fray the cable against some submarine
crag. and various living creatures will
do it a mischief. Among them fishes
have long been suspected, and now the
charge has been proved in cable con-
Meeting Sydney with Nelson. A de.
feet was detected, and ON examining
the piece sharks tooth was found
imbedded in the shesting. 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 mistaken the cable, in |
the imperfect light, for new species
of conger, or did it, which seems more
likely, blunder against it at place
where it did not touch bottom, and re.
lieve its temper by vicious snap?
A swordfsh will express its resent
ment against a vessel by driving the
bayonet at the end of its nose into. the |
planks, and a narwhal will use its |
lance Of ivory in similar fashion
each, like the shark, to its own detri-
ment, for it illustrates the maxim, |
"Can't you leave it alone" by losing |
the weapon of offense. The conflict
between shark and cable occurred $50 |
fathoms below the surface, a depth |
which formerly was supposed to be
almost lifeless. But deep.sea dredg-
ing during the last thirty 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 enormous
ly abundant in this upper layer-the
home Of countless fishes, mollusks,
crustacea, and in many places of
clouds Of tiny foraminifera and radio. |
laria, with corresponding abundance
OF seaweeds.
But living creatures follow the
ocean slopes downward to very great
depths. Sponges, at least certain
kinds, go far below the thousand.
fathom line. A hydrozoon two yards
long was dredged up by the Challen.
ger from 1890 fathoms, and OCCASION
ally 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 telegraph cable from
more than / 100 fathoms, and DR..
Carpenter obtained nollusk, gener
ally 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 OBJ.
tanned, but they are comparatively low
in organization. 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 Of eternal night would be
useless, If they were not able to turn
on the light at will by being provided
with phosphorescent organs. 1t is,
however, unusual to find shark so
deep as nearly couple of thousand
feet from the surface. Their teeth
have, indeed. been dredged up from
profound depths. imbsdded in nodules
of manganese oxide, but these have
dropped from the jaws Of fishes which
have lived and died in the upper
waters and settled quietly down to the
bottom.
Sharks in general keep near to the
surface, a habit which makes them
such terror to bathers. Still, one
kind of q shark, more nearly related
to the dog fishes than 10 the dreaded
blue shark, is brought up from depths
greater than those mentioned. The
genus, which contains several species,
has a wide range, and epearlike teeth
one of which may have done the mis-
chief. Of the Portuguese coast there
is regular fishery for species OF this
fish, which is about five feet long; it
is caught with lines, at depths of 400,
and occasionally 500 fsthoms. As it
is accustomed to live under pressure
OF about eighty atmosphere, it 10
dead practically suffccated - when
brought to the surface.