THE OPEN SEA 75 
SEA-DESERTS 
Some parts of the Open Sea have only a sparse 
floating population compared with others. 
Most of the Mediterranean is poor when com- 
pared withthe North Sea. To the west of Pata- 
gonia 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 be- 
fore 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 
(1) 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 ener- 
getic swimmers are the whales, both great and 
