THE OPEN SEA 67 
abundant. (3) On the shore there is abundant 
food, but there is a keen competition for it, 
and there is a tendency for many of the nour- 
ishing particles in the water to slip past and 
to sink down the inclined plane to the deep 
waters. But in the open sea there is in most 
places great abundance of food, and it is ac- 
cessible to all. So there are three great reasons 
why pelagic life is easier than littoral life. 
It may be objected that the open sea is the 
place of storms, and it is true that there are 
terrible days when sea and sky seem to meet 
in a welter of tumultuous water. But storms 
are more dangerous near shore than in the 
open sea when there is nothing to knock 
against, and few of them have a deep grip. 
Many of the very delicate open-sea animals, 
like the iridescent and luminescent comb- 
bearers (Ctenophores) sink into quiet water 
whenever there is a hint of white-horses. So, 
in spite of storms, we may say that in the open 
sea the barque of life sails on anevenkeel. One 
of the disastrous effects of storms is seen where 
one would not at first look for it, namely, 
among some of the open-sea birds, like gan- 
nets. The fishes and other creatures on which 
they feed have taken to deeper levels in the 
