THE OPEN SEA 75 



SEA-DESERTS 



Some parts of the Open Sea have only a 

 sparse floating population compared with others. 

 Mostof the Mediterranean is poor when compared 

 with the North Sea. To the west of Patagonia 

 in the South Pacific there is what may be called 

 a sea-desert : there are few fishes and few sea- 

 birds ; there are almost no floating sea-meadows. 

 On the floor of the sea in that region there is 

 an unusual profusion of sharks' teeth and the 

 ear-bones of whales, which has given rise to the 

 suggestion that these huge creatures get into 

 the sea-desert and die of hunger before they 

 find their way out. The teeth and ear-bones 

 are so hard that they can scarcely be dissolved 

 in the sea ; they accumulate on the floor as 

 relics of ill-fated visitors to the desert. 



SWIMMERS AND DRIFTERS 



The animals of the open sea are divided into 

 (i) the active swimmers (technically making up 

 the NEKTON) ; and (2) the drifters, or easy- 

 going swimmers (technically making up the 

 PLANKTON). Good examples of the energetic 

 swimmers are the whales, both great and small, 



