Evening star., 1925-02-12

TO the surface, the release of pressure
or the water as they rise causes the
gases within their -ceus to burst out
so that by the time the fish is hauIed
aboard. after hours of ascending, it
ts practically torn to pieces by the
internal gases.
4 X
DIT. Austin Clarke. ocean noerapher
OF the Smithsonian Institution. esti-
| mates that a 0-foot whale, weighing
30 tons, is equivalent to enough cattle
to consume an acre of good pasture
dafy-365 acres year IF the whole
area of the District of CoIum bfa were
FIN clover IT would feed only 125
whales, for, though whales are not
tYegetarians, they would require Yege-
tartan animals which would consume
that much pastuage. Each season
the 1000 whales Killed off of Spitz-
bergen wouid require a pasture area
eight times that of the District Of
tColumb bia TO feed their required
live stock"-the fish they consume
Some areas of the sea are gray or
green with microscopic past turag &c"
sustaining fish. which, in turn, become
tInnd Tor larger creatures. While
there are never crop failures through
drought, other influences cause Yields
to vary.
All large animals and all vegeta-
ton exist only in depths less than
$50 feet--and from that zone falls.
the food to the inhabitants of the
lower zones-the vegetation and the.
dead animals falling like our rains
and SHOWS, down through the eter-
naIly stf1 and perpetually dark wa
ter The brightest sunlight never
penetrates more than see feet, and
even at that depth there rs only twi-
light. The severest storm has no
disturbing effect at such. depths
Not only do the large fishes and
| mammals remain Within $50 feet of
the surface, but usually close to the
land, Where food is more plentiful
fthan in midocean. The greatest
depth from which any fish has been
captured was the catch by the Prince
| of Monaco-one of the most famous
of oceahographers. 1t was "srimal
dfchthys profundisimus," taken at a
depth of 1896 feet-3A miles. That
constitutes the greatest fish story to
date, though 'sonTe that got away"
may have been huser and swum
deeper.
| Il
E is a common error to assume
that because the warm climates on
land produce the most abundant veg
etabfe and animal life the most
abundant fsh weuId exist in tropical
Waters. On the contrary, the colder
the water the more gases IL contains,
and that means more food for vexe-
tation and consequently more animal
| life
According to DR.. Clarke, "the op-
timum conditions for both plants and
animals In the sea are found in the
Arctic and Antarctic regions in the
Summer, when the sun Is at IT'S
highest, and In the cold currents
flowing outward from the polar seas.
As the water warns toward the
Equator life becomes less abundant
though more varied and everywhere
1t decreases in extent and variability
with increasing distances from the
shores
In earlier times il was supposed
th~t If men could search them the
extreme depths would disclose great
treasures of the ancient years which
had drffted there. This is now recog-
nfzed as unfounded. There are no
sweeping currents in the great
depths all is still as we'll as dark -
The Afcturus scientists will test
the oceans for their salinity and tenn
peratures, their currents both lateral
and perpendicular, and for all possi-
Bic animal and vegetable life condi-
tions. There has never before been
an investigation comparable. to this
one with its delicate apparatus for
making various scientific tests The
exploration will cover two months in
the Atlantic, then the ship will pass
through the Panama canal to the re-
gion of the Barbados. off the coast of
South America While there are no
electric storms in the ocean depths,
1t is believed that ocean phenomena
may have much to do with weather
conditions above the water and over
the land.
(Copyrasht, -. By Paul Y. csllinAi