The Washington herald., 1915-05-02
HEALRA7FOSS
VIII H3 HUGE 7RAWZ. NET

same being true Of the giant octopus
with its reach Of seventy feet from tiI
to tip of its huge arm&
The Sea Serpent.
I asked DR.. Clark II oceanographers
can throw any light on the sea serpent
legend.
Certainly We can." he said. "ordi-
narily It takes two basking sharks to
make one sea serpent. These sharks are
forty or fifty feet long and they travel
in pairs. male and female. line ahead.
close together. both showing above the
water a length of tail and dorsal fin. The
sight Of two such creatures. swimming
tandem. might easily suggest the con-
volutions Of some huge single unclassi-
fed sea monster"
However eager for new specimens he
may be. the experienced oceanographer
is extremely careful in his handling Of
the white enameled pan into which the
contents Of the tow net are emptfed.
There may be dangers here, unsuspected
by the novice. Even a poor haul Of a
few red shrimps and wriggling black
fish in a snarl Of Shiny seaweed may
have its dangers. The slime on the sea-
weed for instance. may have como from
a most poisonous Jellyfsh known as the
hot hao af,,
to death many a valiant swimmer with
its ten-foot streamers that paralyze the
body. On fair days these formidable
creatures lift their pink and blue oval
weather they sink. and ono Of their
streamers entangled in a tow net might
do serious harm. as happens on the
Slime banks" Of Behring Sea. where the
cod fishermen suffer grievously when
their lines come up smeared with pois-
onous jelIyfsh excretion. 1t was the
Albatross that traced the cause Of this
Behring Sea fishing trouble to a jelly
fish.
An Invisible Danger.
Another danger lurking in the tow nets
is the possible presence Of a strange
crustacean related to a crab, an uncanny
creature about three inches long, that
is invisible. literally invisible. owing to
the fact that its head and body, its arms,
legs, and claws are quite transparent.
The presence of this animal in the re-
ceiving pan Is usually indicated by
disturbance among its visible neighbors,
the shrimps and fishes. and when 1t is
lifted out with a pair of tongs, it appears
like the glass model Of a crab with slowly
moving glass legs and glass claws. When
killed this crab loses its transparency
and reveals itself in dull white coloring
like the white of an egg. The Albatross
many of these invisible
wrigglers while fishing in japanese wat
ers. 1t is we'll known that very young
fish and tiny cells are quite transparent
except for two black dots which mark
their eyes.
DR.. Clark explained to me that while
many fish have an extraordinary power
of adapting themselves to their back
grounds. literally changing the colors
and the patterns of their skins, and thus
rendering themselves invisible to enc
mics. there are others that seem to make
as conspicuous as possible.
Haunting their vivid colors. one would
say. darting about like flashing rainbows.
This Is because nature in her profusion
has given to one species a certain means
Of defense. and to another species a diff
ferent means. Thus the brilliantly-hued
fears nothing that swims. not
even the savage shark, because he knows
that his unecualed swiftness can save
him. And in tropical waters. swarr71ing
with fish gorgeous in gayest blue and
gold and scarlet. there is quite a differ
ent protection.
These jeweled beauties. swimming
about rather tamely. would be helpless
against ravenous pursuers were it not
that they live in shallow tide pools and
near coral reefs. where these pursuers
iare not follow them. Why not? Be-
cause coral reefs are full of stines of the
live coral creatures. stinss that hurt q
mans hand IL he touches them and
might destroy the eyes Of any big fish