Smyrna times., 1935-01-31
RECORD DEPTH
UNDERSEA LIFE
Observers Study Fish New To
Science and Recently
Discovered
DIR. BEEBE'S FINDINGS

shington.-Throngs of tourists
lined the cliffs along St. Georges
harbor, Bermuda, as Dr. William
Beebe and Otis Barton. intrepid
deep-sea divers, steamed out to sea,
there to climb into their steel ball,
the bathysphere, and be lowered to
record depths in the Atlantic off
Nonsuch island. according to the
National Geographic society, spon-
sor of the expedition.
Already the holders of the record
deep-sea dive, Doctor Beebe and his
companion, in their first attempt,
took the bathysphere 10 2,510 feet.
Their prior record was 2,200 feet.
In this dive Doctor Beebe report
ed by telephone that he saw scores
of fish new to science. He dictated
to his secretary above, thousands Of
words of description about little
known denizens of "a world as
strange as Mars" Barton with the
aid Of a special, high-powered light,
took motion pictures of weird crea-
lures that floated and swan by the
thick quartz eyes Of the bathy-
sphere.
After an hour at the record depth,
during which Doctor Beebe report
ed the searchlight showed many new
forms of life while other creatures
could be observed owing to lights
they carried on their bodies, the or
der to haul up was given.
Depths Rich in Fish Life.
Upon emerging Doctor Beebe
said: Il have never seen so much
material in my life, and new ma
terial, too. Much Of it is entirely
different from that which we OBJ
served during previous dives. 1t is
the silliest thing in the world to at
tempt to describe in a few words,
but we saw more fish and larger
fish than during any other dive.
Every dive convinces me of the fu-
tiiity of trying to get the true idea
of deep-sea life through nets. Many
deep-sea creatures are such rapid
swimmers that they can easily get
away from nets. One of the most
amazing finds of the day was
tiesh-colored fish which l observed
at the 2,50O-foot level We observed
schools of rare lampanyctus. silver
hatchet fish, and thousands of tiny
squid." During the dive five pho
tographs were taken with supersen-
sitive plates.
The latest dive, at approximately
the same spot as the former record
dive. was to 3,02S feet. The bathy-
sphere remained at that level for
only five minutes-sufficient time,
however, to make possible interest
ing scientific observations which
were dictated by telephone to a
stenographer on the barge from
which the heavy ball was lowered.
Doctor Beebe reported that the
pressure at the maximum depth was
more than 1900 pounds to the
square inch, but the bathysphere,
used successfully on many previous
deep-sea dives, showed no leak
age. 1t took 2 hours and 46 minutes
to make the dive, 2 hours and Al
minutes of which were spent in de-
scending and ascending.
Some Fish Carry Lights.
As in the former dive, fish and
other forms of undersea life, some
recognized on the previous dive,
| and others that were new even to
| Doctor Beebe and Mr.. Barton,
flashed into their vision as they
peered through the bathysphere
windows. In this dark region, ma
ture has provided many Of its crea-
lures with lights which glitter
around their bodies. Whether these
lights are for illumination or for
the purpose Of finding food or at
tracing mates, is problem which
Doctor Beebe hopes to solve during
his diving expeditions.
At 2,75O feet, Doctor Beebe