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.