Seven Fathoms Under the Sea

William Beebe loved to dive: "Personal exploration under the ocean is really unearthly; we are penetrating a new world," A Wonderer Under Sea, National Geographic Magazine, December, 1932, p. 741.  He proceeds to tell us we don't need fancy equipment, just a "bathing suit and a pair of rubber-soled sneakers, a copper helmet with glass set in front, an ordinary rubber hose and a small hand pump. . . Forty feet is a good limit to set and indeed the most brilliant and exciting forms of shore and reef life will be found in lower depths," (p. 741).

A beautiful feature of this article is the 8-page color section with "painting from real life."  Depicted are scenes from around the world, under the sea: large jellyfish, white anemones, and sharks from Alaska; abundant fish, snails, seaweed and shellfish from the warm waters of Catalina (California), the West Indies, the Galapagos, and Hawaii; the barrier reef of Australia, and the cooler ocean off the coasts of Japan and Maine, U.S.A.

My favorite was from the barrier reef of Australia which extends more than one thousand miles along the eastern coast of Queensland.  A brilliant red sea horse looked more like a "sea-dragon with angular, many-pointed armor decorated by scores of waving tassels and plumes and feathery appendages," (color plate VII).

FYI: Remember the book, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?"  A league is a measure of distance traveled, approximately 3 miles.  Depth is measured in 'fathoms,' one fathom = 3 feet (Google is my best friend while reading these articles - I always learn something interesting!).

Beebe particularly enjoyed diving at night.  "When many dives have been made at one place, so that the seascape has become familiar and individual fish are known on sight and can be claimed as friends, then is the time to come out late some starlit evening and go down in the dark," (p. 755).  Some of the fish reflect the light given off by the phosphorescent fish.  It must be singularly beautiful.

"Start an exploration which has no superior in jungle or mountain," Mr. Beebe exhorts.  "ensure your present life and future memories from any possibility of ennui or boredom, and provide yourself with tales of sights and adventures which no listener will believe, until he, too, has gone and seen, and in turn has become an active member of the Society of Wonderers under sea," (p. 758).  Now, aren't we tempted to go right out and do so!