Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-06-25
MYTH EXPLODED
Sargasso Sea Not a Graveyard
OF the Ocean,"
Explorers Have Shown That Popular
Belief Is Erroneous-Coid Light
OF Science Reveals Truth as
to Ocean Mystery.

The Sargasso sea has furnished
writer's OF nautical stories a subject
for thrilling romance amid the most
unusual surroundings, with variations
CT lest treasure and a vast armada OF
ships, mysteriously lost 10 the world
held in the great eddy of floating
vegetation. More than one writer, not
dealing with fiction, but seriously dis
cussing the proposition with the basis
Of facts at hand, has contended that
the sea was really "a floating con
tinent peopied by the crews that had
manned the lost ships.
At any rate, the Sargasso has, all
along, had the charm, the fascination
of the unknown. But now the glamor
has been swept aside by precise ex-
ploratiOn, which, while it establishes
the cold truth in hard terms. shows US,
who have thrilled at the tales of the
lost land" just what wonderfully
fervid imaginations our good friends
the romancers possessed
The British steamer Michael Sars,
after deep-sea exploration of the
Atlantic, brought back intensely inter-
esting data ana exhibits. The results
Of the observation show that only
comparatively small patches of weed
covered surface cucumber the sea in
the vicinity, and that there is no war
rant fer the theory that any number of
ships are held within its embrace. The
fact was duly recognized by Lieut..
Ridgely Hunt of the United States
navy, in charge OF the photographic
bureau at that time, who wrote prior
to the> return Of the English expedi-
ton:
Through the dynamical forces arts
ing from the earths rotation, which
cause all moving masses in the north
ern hemisphere to tend to be detected
toward the right-hand side OF their
path, the algae that are borne by the
Gulf stream from the tropical seas find
their way toward the inner edge of the
circulatory drift which moves in a
clockwise direction around the central
part of the North Atlantic ocean. In
this central part the flow of the sur
face waters is not steady in any direc-
ton, and hence the floating seaweed
tends to accumulate there. The ten
dency to accumulate is perhaps most
observable in the triangular region
marked out of the Azores, the Canar-
les and the Cape Verde islands, but
much seaweed is also found to the
westward Of the middle part of this
triangular region in an elongated area
extending to the SEVENTEEN degree
meridian of west longitude.
THE abundance of seaweed in the
Sargasso sea fluctuates much with the
variation Of the agencies which ac-
count for it's presence, but this office
does not possess any authentic records
to show that it has ever been accu
mulated in such amount as materially
to impede vessels in passing over this
part of the ocean.
"All sorts of small Aquatic and in
sect life flourish around the borders
of the Sargasso sea. There are num-
berless varieties of fish, molluscs,
shrimps, crabs and water feas.
Some of these inhabitants of the
Sargasso sea are found nowhere else.
There is a transparent shrimp that
has wondrous eyes on the end of long
pedicles. These eyes are many-faceted,
and each facet sheds a brilliant green
ish light and sparkles like a splendid
gem. The water f1eas are extraordin-
airy also. Some are totally blind, while
others go to the opposite extreme and
are nearly all eye. Even the fishes
are unique. Some build nests in
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