Underwater Exploration [antikvár]

I The World beneath the Sea Man has explored and mapped the dry land; he has climbed the highest mountains, penetrated the densest jungles and crossed the most desolate deserts. All these are measured and known, but the exploration of the vast world beneath the sea has only just begun. Nearly three-quarters of the earth's surface is water to an average depth of two and three-quarter miles. The immense area of the ocean bed with its great level plains, its sunken mountain ranges and its deep canyons still awaits the explorers. The seas teem with animal and plant life. There are more than twenty thousand species of fish of every shape, size and colour. The largest sea creature is the whale, and a blue whale can weigh a hundred tons. The smallest are so tiny that they can only be seen through a microscope, yet they are of dreamlike beauty. Between these two extremes is a great range of creatures; fish, crustaceans such as lobsters and crabs, and such molluscs as the giant squid and the oyster and cockle. Underwater plants have an infinite variety, too; there are many kinds of seaweed, and countless strange plants. There are even some sea creatures which look like plants. In the eternal darkness of the deep, live animals and plants which man has not yet seen. This book describes man's exploration and achievements in this strange world of the sea. 4 The strange world of the sea