UNDER SEA WITH HELMET AND CAMERA 



Joe O'Neil, our cook, is an exceptionally good swimmer and diver. He 

 could dive overboard and uproot sea fans and specimens of coral with 

 great dexterity. Many were of unusual beauty and well worth taking 

 home. Clinging to the roots of these specimens we often found unusual 

 and interesting forms of life, brittle starfish and strange looking worms. 

 The brittle starfish has truly remarkable characteristics. The variety we 

 found was small; many were not larger than a half dollar. On being 

 handled, they soon disintegrated. I thought at first that this was because 

 of their exceeding brittleness, but discovered that they proceed to destroy 

 themselves, casting off limb after limb until there is nothing left but the 

 center. The limbs continue to move for some time after they have be- 

 come separated from the center, or body. 



This peculiar characteristic of various types of brittle starfish is referred 

 to in Animals of the Sea by F. Martin Duncan. He quotes an account by 

 Professor Forbes as follows: 



"The first time I ever took one of these creatures I succeeded in getting 

 it into the boat entire. Never having seen one before, and quite unconscious 

 of its suicidal powers, I spread it out on a rowing bench, the better to ad- 

 mire its form and colours. In attempting to remove it for preservation, to 

 my horror and disappointment I found only an assemblage of rejected 

 members. My conservative endeavours were all neutralized by its destruc- 

 tive exertions, and it is now badly represented in my cabinet by an arm- 

 less disc and a discless arm. Next time I went to dredge on the same spot, 

 determined not to be cheated out of a specimen in such a way a second 

 time, I brought with me a bucket of cold fresh water, to which article star- 

 fishes have a great antipathy. As I expected, a Luidia came up in the dredge 

 —a most gorgeous specimen. As it does not generally break up before it is 

 raised above the surface of the sea, cautiously and anxiously I sank my 

 bucket to a level with the dredge's mouth, and proceeded in the most gentle 



136-2 



