66 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



on or near the floor of the sea, are found 

 floating at or near the surface. 



CONTRAST BETWEEN SHORE AND 

 OPEN SEA 



The shore waters pass gradually into the 

 open sea, and the surface zones pass gradually 

 into the dark, deep-water zones, but the haunt 

 which we call the open sea has well-marked 

 characters of its own. It is a place of spa- 

 ciousness, freedom, and plenty. Let us con- 

 trast it with the shore haunt. There are 

 three great differences, (i) The seashore is 

 crowded, the open sea is spacious; there is 

 room and to spare for all. (2) The shore is 

 very changeful, the open sea is much more 

 uniform. The differences between morning 

 and noon, day and night, summer and winter, 

 are less marked in the open sea than on the 

 shore. The open sea is not indeed a place of 

 rest, for the pelagic animals swim or drift un- 

 ceasingly, and "know no rest from birth till 

 death." But even this movement often makes 

 things easier, for many of them can sink or 

 rise in the water, getting out of the glare or the 

 heat, or coming up to where oxygen is most 



