lO JOHAN HJORT. M.-N. Kl. 



down to — i",5^ and there exists there a sparse arctic fauna ^ such as 

 is found in the most Northern regions hitherto investigated. On the banks 

 matters are entirely different, especialh^ on their edge where they slope 

 off towards the deep. The bottom there is more solid, more ston}", 

 being covered with small stones, shingle, and shell-sand. The water there 

 is warm, its temperature ranging from 5 ^ to 7 ", and the animal life is 

 excessive!}' greater than in the deep. If reminds one of the life which 

 exists on our shores, which, in comparison to their northern latitude, are 

 so warm and bountiful. The animal life on the coastal banks is especially 

 great on their edge, as well as in near the coast. 



It is thus out on these coastal banks and their uppermost slopes to- 

 wards the deep, that, in the opinion of Sars^, derived from the results 

 of the Northern Ocean Expedition, we must seek the true home of the Cod. 

 There the Cod wanders about during most of the year. The plenteous 

 supply of animal life on the banks provides its nourishment; and when 

 spawning time approaches, the Cod assemble in great shoals and advance 

 slowly in towards land, often up to the beach itself, in order to spawn 

 there. Certain spots, as those in the Lofotens, are, owing to their con- 

 ditions, especially favourable to spawning. The Cod then seeks the hol- 

 lows, the furrows on the plateau of the banks (see Chart of Depths I)' 

 and then advances thence inwards to the suitable sandy and shelly shallows 

 Avhich extend along the Lofoten Islands, whereupon the fishery commences 

 (see Chart of Depths IV). 



The Northern Ocean Expedition has likewise thrown much fresh light 

 on the migration of the Herring. It was formerly presumed that the home 

 of the Herring was in the boundless depths which were imagined to em- 

 brace the North Pole. The said Expedition has, however, proved 

 that living organisms are ver}' scarce in the ocean depths, and that these 

 could not possiljly afford nourishment to the vast mass of Herrings. On 

 the other hand it was discovered that the uppermost layer in the Northern 

 Ocean was excessively fruitful in both animal and plant life, and that, 

 amongst the numerous organisms, the very ones on which the Herrings 

 chiefly feed on our own shores were found in the greatest quantity, for 

 instance Copepods, Calanus finmarchius, and a. species of Chaetoceros). 



' See Den norske Nordhavsexpedition (The Norwegian Northern Ocean Expedition). H. 



Mohn, Nordhavets Dybder, Temperatur og Strømninger (The Depths of the Northern 



Ocean, its Temperature and Currents). Christiania 1S87. 

 3 See Extracts from Professor Sars' Reports, when a member of the Norwegian Northern 



Ocean Expedition in the years 1876 — 1S78. Printed amongst Reports to the Home 



Department, Christiania 1S79. 



