The deaths were attributed to a sudden change in the water 

 temperature as no chemicals or foreign matter are pumped 

 into that area. Actual cause of deaths not known. 



"In the period of April 5-15, 1949 in the southern half 

 of the gulf and the Strait of Hormoz, large numbers of 

 round jellyfish up to four inches in diameter were noted. 

 About ten miles south of the strait (April 10) the surface 

 waters were filled with transparent jelly organisms that 

 had single red nuclei. Shortly thereafter strings of this 

 same organism 10 to 20 feet long with a row of red nuclei 

 enclosed in each string also were noticed. The individual 

 organisms may have been torn from one of these strings 

 or they may be single fish eggs. Another type of "egg" - 

 transparent and round, with two tendrils, one diagonally 

 across from the other - was noted in this same area. 



"In the area west of the strait and in the vicinity of 

 Jazirat Tonb, several small patches of floating, fine- 

 textured, red weed were noted. Also a large patch of fine 

 green plankton or algal "spores" was seen. The observer 

 was unable to tell how deep the layer went. 



"In this southeastern area of the gulf, the water was 

 phosphorescent enough to show plainly (when flowing by 

 at 1 to 2 knots) the anchor chain and surface current 

 meter when the U.S.S. JOHN BLISH was anchored overnight 

 on a current station. This phosphorescence occurred both 

 in an underwater "haze" and in large, bright, numerous 

 "sparks" and also was noticed in the Gulf of Oman, the 

 Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and to some extent in the 

 Red Sea. The Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean waters 

 showed only a little phosphorescence when passage of them 

 was made in the latter part of May." 



Other Observations 



A total of 1,982 bathythermograph observations was made from 

 October 1948 to June 1949. In addition to the temperature observations 

 made in the Kuwait Harbor area, bathythermograph observations were 

 made at approximately one-hour intervals beginning about 290 miles 

 east of Ambrose Lightship. They continued across the Atlantic Ocean, 

 through the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the 

 Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and back along a 

 similar route to Norfolk, Virginia. 



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