LIFE AT AND NEAR SURFACE 125 



carefully traced their life-histories, yet count- 

 less other creatures are known only from a 

 few specimens, or in one stage of their exist- 

 ence, and their lives and habits still remain 

 mysteries of the sea. 



If you look upon the surface of the ocean, 

 as you travel over it in a boat, it may appear 

 barren of life and the only objects you see 

 may be bits of floating sea-weed, odds and 

 ends of trash and rubbish. But drag a fine- 

 meshed net behind the boat and empty it into 

 a basin of clear sea water and you will be 

 amazed at the myriads of strange animals that 

 have been obtained from the apparently life- 

 less surface. 



Most of these creatures are very small and 

 thousands of them will escape your observa- 

 tion entirely, as they are perfectly transparent 

 and of almost microscopic size, but if you 

 wait until dark and agitate the water they will 

 make their presence known by bright flashes 

 of phosphorescence. A large proportion of 

 these very minute creatures are the young or 

 larval forms of larger marine animals, but in 

 addition there are inconceivable numbers of 



