282 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



This decrease was due in a great measure to the prevalence of dense 

 togs which hung over the waters frequented by the mackerel fishermen,, 

 and often rendered fishing impracticable. It is also possible that the 

 comparative scarcity of the fish which occurred at this time may have 

 been caused by a remarkable discoloration of the sea- water, which 

 appeared about the 1st of August along the coast of Maine and in the 

 Bay of Fundy. Mackerel fishermen, returning from the Bay of Fundy 

 and the coast of Maine, August 10, reported that for ten or twelve days 

 previous the water off Monhegan and Mount Desert had presented a 

 most singular appearance, its color resembling that of diluted milk. 

 This whitish streak was 30 or 40 miles wide, and extended some 05 or 

 70 miles in a northeasterly direction from Monhegan Island, its inner 

 edge varying from 5 to 25 miles distant from the land. The line of de- 

 markation between this colored water and the blue sea was very conspic- 

 uous and as regular as a wall. During this period the white water 

 was semi-transparent, so that the fish, to which was imparted a reddish 

 tinge, could be seen beneath the surface at a great distance. Some men 

 stated that mackerel passing from blue to white water appeared to be 

 peculiarly affected by the change, apparently becoming wild and rush- 

 ing madly to and fro. Others, however, did not notice any of these 

 peculiarities in the movements of the fish, merely stating that the mack- 

 erel rarely schooled at the surface. The semi-transparency of the water, 

 however, enabled the fishermen to see the schools so far beneath the 

 surface that, in consequence, they could be inclosed in the purse-seines 

 as well as if they were inclined to swim closer to the top of the water. 

 For a couple of weeks after the appearance of this phenomenon many 

 schools of mackerel were captured in the " white water," though the 

 best fishing was beyond its limits about the western part of the Xova 

 Scotia coast, off Yarmouth, and on the Seal Island Ground. At the 

 same time, however, the market boats, and occasionally the salt fisher- 

 men, made some large hauls in the waters around and inside of Monhe- 

 gan, which were, at the time of the phenomenon, within the area of 

 discoloration. It is difficult to define precisely the influences which 

 this " white water" may have exerted on the movements of the mackerel, 

 but it certainly is the general opinion of the fishermen that one effect 

 produced was a sudden and almost total disappearance of the main 

 body of the fish from the coast. Though it is probable that the discolor- 

 ation was due to an unusual accumulation of some form of animalcnla 

 or crastacea in the water, it is nevertheless true that little or no food 

 suitable for the mackerel occurred within its limits. All of the mack- 

 erel fishermen with whom I have conversed on this subject agree in 

 saying that without exception the fish taken in the •■ white water" had 

 little or no food in their stomachs. It is not probable that there was any 

 chemical change in the sea, yet many of the most intelligent and observ- 

 ing fishermen are of the opinion that the schools of mackerel were pecu 

 liarly affected by the " white water," or at least acted queerly within 

 its limits. Capt. George H. Martin, of Gloucester, assured me that the 



