THE CREATURES OF THE SEA. 9 



is, that it affords no resting-place for creatures 

 that do not like to be swimming about contin- 

 ually, while another reason is, that there is a lack 

 of food in very deep water. 



It is true that some strange creatures are occa- 

 sionally brought up from great depths, but the 

 cold, black abyss of the deep sea will probably 

 always remain a place of mystery, while the shal- 

 low rim of the ocean will be better and better 

 known as the years go by and new explorations 

 are made. Perhaps some of you may help make 

 them. 



We may say, then, that the whole shore-line of 

 California, Oregon, and Washington is the home 

 of countless animals. And by shore-line we will 

 include all that space which reaches from the 

 spray-splashed rocks on the land side, out to 

 water which is too deep to be readily explored by 

 the dredge. 



All sorts of creatures live in this sea-coast re- 

 gion. First, there are the fishes in abundance, 

 ranging in size from the sharks that are as long 

 as a good-sized house, down to the smallest rock- 

 fishes that have just been hatched from the egg. 



Occasionally a whale comes blowing around, or 

 some smaller creatures of the same class, like the 

 grampus and the porpoise. There are seals, with 



