In the summer of 1947, a man named Thor Heyerdahl and five companions drifted across the Pacific Ocean on a raft of balsa logs to see if the inhabitants of Polynesia could have from to South America on a raft. He saw, on this trip at night, many strange fish that he thought must have come from the deeper regions of the sea, because they had large eyes, and had been seldom seen. He saw a kind of fish that had not before been seen alive.
The sea has many layers, and the surface layer is full of life. The plankton is algae and other such plants. Small animals, such as crab's young, live in the plants. The first flesh-eaters of the life chain feed on the small animals, and others feed on them. The plankton is not in the colder areas, because the life is farther below the surface than in the warmer areas. Coral remains are found in the arctic, but they cannot live and grow in water under 70 degrees F. Therefore, the waters in that area must have been warmer some time ago.
There is a part of the ocean called the Sargasso Sea because the currents bring the Sargasso weed in great quantity. This is the birthplace of all the currents of the North Atlantic. The animals that lived in the Sargasso weed stay there, and the poor swimmers stayed on the weed. The flying fish use it for nests. The early sailors thought that ships were wrecked by the weed clinging to the ships and trapping it, but that is not so.
More Later,
Bell
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