Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-04

trio Of archers twanging away at the
fish with bows and arrows, you won't
wake up and find 1t all q dream.
ANY nice day In that vicinity you're likely to
find Dr. William Beebe, the famous explorer Of
the oceans depths, and some Of his associates
engaged in the scientific sport Of potting fish
for their strange, weird and marvellous collec-
ton Of denizens Of the deep.
Equipped with q diving helmet, they slide
down 40 TO 90 feet on Q rope ladder and step
OF at the bottom Of the sea to hunt for species
never seen before
DR.. Beebe developed the use of the bow and
arrow for this purpose because it was found
that the arrow would only stun the fish, and
when they noated to the surface they could
easily be retrieved and often resuscitated for
more careful observation or experiment.
In addition to walking around on the bottom
Of the sea looking like ghosts out Of the fabled
Atlantis, with q primitive weapon like the
bow, members Of the Bermuda Oceanographic
Expedition also use an electric pistol to stun
the fish into unconSciousneSS and make It easy
10 capture them alive.
The pistol is in the nature of a toy popgun,
united with an electric battery, and when the
trigger IS pulled 1t causes shock to be trans
United to the water All the fish within mar
row radius lose their power Of motion and are
gathered In by hand.
THESE underSea maneuvers are reported by
- Miss Gloria HOLSTER technical associate Of
the expedition, who returned to New York for
q short vacation before resuming her work as
the staff chemist
The results from both the deep-Sea trawlng
and the personal exploration by members Of
the expedition in the shallow water have been
so great said Miss HOLSTER that DR.. Beebe can
not possibly complete the work this year. He
hopes to come again for another period Of
research in Bermuda.
Although this expedition is the twelfth UNDER
taken by the department Of tropical research
OF the New York Geological Society," there seems
to be no exhaustion Of the new and strange
forms OF life which are to be found in the sea,
"Of the many groteSque fish which we dis
covered on these trips" says Miss HOLSTER
none is more interesting than the founder.
with its eyes on short stalks one peering In
one direction and the other orb directed op-
poSite to the first Another queer thing about
this fish Is his ability to elevate or depress his
eyes at will on these stalks.
These founders were tan with blue mark
mgs, but they had remarkable facility in
changing their coloring for protection-they
could transform their color to dead white or
pink with q changing background
The wide range In the protective coloration
OF the fish Is an amazing characteristic, and
when We catch fish which are able to change
their eolOrs the artist Of the star works fran
tically to catch the whole series Of tints which
the fish is capable Of assuming.
Fish are endowed with the ability to change
color as . defense against their enemies
1ish lying upon table in the ship laboratory.
In Its desperate struggle to exist, will undergo q
transformation through its entire color range.
The struggle for existence in the sea is
raw and brutal. Fish generally live upon each
other. One Of the most interesting discoveries
we made was the finding of the gulper q deep
sea animal.
1T is probable that the deeper regions of the
sea offer less subsistence and fish must grab
their dinners when they can. The gulper has
an elastic stomach, and we have found these
1iSh with their Stomachs so distended and
crowded with fish they had swallowed that the
stomach was several times its normal size.
Once we discovered two of these gulpers
ni'erlocked in a struggle which meant death
tor both. Their stomachs were full of I'M
u'SeSted fish, but one gulper tried to swallow
1ne other, and the aggressor hung on tenaciously
"i,tn Doth were caught In our nets
we have been trying to study the fighting
"'eChoos Of fish. Apparently their strategy