II - 15 Journey To The Bottoms Of The Pacific Ocean

Journey  To  The  Bottoms  Of  The  Pacific  Ocean

The journey two naval officers made some time ago to the very deepest point
 
on  the  earth  makes  us  realize  how  much  of  the  world  still  remains  to  be
 
explored. The two men went down seven miles to the bottoms of the Pacific
 
Ocean inside a small steel ball called a 'bathyscaphe'(1) to find out if
 
there  are  any  ocean  currents(2)  or  signs  of  life.  Above  the  ball  there
 
was  a  special  tank  full  of  petrol
 
which was slowly emptied(3) into the water to make the bathyscaphe heavy
 
enough  to  complete  its  journey.
 
It was necessary to set out early, so that the bathyscaphe would come to
 
the surface in daylight, and so be easily found by the mother ship(4) which
 
 
 
 
would be waiting for it. The divers began preparations at dawn and  soon
 
afterwards,  when  all  was  ready,  the  steel  ball  disappeared  under  the
 
surface  of  the  water.
 
The  divers  felt  as  if  they  were  going  down  steps  as  they  passed  through
 
warm and cold layers of water(5). In time(6), the temperature dropped to
 
freezing-point and the men shivered inside the ball. They kept in touch
 
with  the  mother  ship  by  telephone  describing  how  they  felt.  Then,  at  a
 
depth  of  3,000  feet,  the  telephone  stopped  working  and  they  were  quite
 
cut off from the outside world. All went well until some four hours later
 
at 30,000 feet, the men were startled by a loud, cracking noise: even the
 
smallest hole in the ball would have meant instant death. Luckily, though,
 
it  was  only  one  of  the  outer  windows  that  had  broken.  Soon  afterwards,
 
the bathyscaphe touched the soft ocean floor raising a big cloud of 'dust'
 
made  up  of  small,  dead  sea-creatures.  Here,  powerful  lights  lit  up  the
 
dark water and the men were surprised to see fish swimming just above them
 
quite  untroubled  by  the  enormous  water-pressure.  But  they  did  not  dare
 
to leave the lights on for long, as the heat from them made the water boil.
 
Quite unexpectedly, the telephone began working again and the faint but
 
clear  voices  of  the  officers  were  heard  on  the  mother  ship  seven  miles
 
away.  After  a  stay  of  thirty  minutes  the  men  began  their  journey  up,
 
arriving three hours later, cold and wet through, but none the worse(7)
 
for  their experience.