The Sea

[Music] this is [Music] as we gaze upon the restlessness of this mighty body of water each breaking wave carries us away in profound contemplation of the strange inhabitants of these oceanic realms a world in which even the most commonplace of animal forms are ghost-like and fantastic beyond comparison suddenly transported to this fanciful region we see passing before us many strange vegetable growths they stretch their fronds towards the surface and the sun for with these as with land plants the sun is the giver of life the general activity makes us aware that we are among the marine denizens close inspection reveals a fairy-like animal crawling along a piece of seaweed this is a nudibranch a shell-less marine snail a creature for which nature has used the utmost of its creative forces in forming an animal beautiful to behold in the sea lift many kinds of these creatures every one of which possesses characteristics peculiar to its kind some are crawling the sea bottom and remind one of huge floral floats passing in review the flower-like arrangements on the back of each animal are not superfluous decorations but gills organs which transfer to their bodies the necessary oxygen these creatures are able to maintain themselves at the surface of the sea it is not uncommon to see them crawling upside down on the underside of the water surface the surface tension keeping them afloat from behind every rock and crevice crabs of many kinds issue four these two are placed upon their backs seaweed so as to blend them into their surroundings as protection against enemies from above strange indeed are some of the protective measures adopted by many of nature's children this crab appears to be eating its protection notice how pieces of food are pulled from its side and placed in its mouth the starfish which derives its name from its star-like shape here we see one moving about in search of food this food consists of mussels oysters and other shell animals which it hunts among the rocks this starfish is seizing a muscle with its tubular feet holding over the muscle umbrella-like the tubes fasten themselves to each side of the muscle's shell and it is dragged apart by main force the sea contains many of these flower-like beds of animals they are known as sea anemones and live an easy going life waiting for food to drop into their mouths suddenly an inconspicuous object appears to have come to life a sea anemone is beginning to open slowly and gradually the tentacles are spreading until finally they expose themselves into full bloom this is surely a curious and at times a beautiful creature but here as with many animal forms such beauty does not symbolize the inner nature of the animal the sea anemone preys upon other animals for its food by stinging them with certain cells thrown out from each tentacle an eel has become entangled the tentacles wrap themselves around the unfortunate prey exploding from each tentacle of thousands of microscopic stinging cells penetrating the body of this poor creature the eel struggles mainly to free itself but already the tentacles are closing in the process of ingestion is taking place the eel is taken through the mouth into the stomach it comprising most of the base we see and it is there digested from all external appearances we are impressed with the beautiful flower-like form of the sea anemone but here we see reality not petals to stimulate our sense of beauty but tentacles organs possessing within themselves a thousand deaths for other animals the sea urchins are a most peculiar animal undergoing little change throughout all the millions of years they have existed they walk about on their spines and tubular feet eating whatever they may find these creatures are closely related to the starfish this is a sea worm with spectacular fan-shaped tentacles these tentacles are used for securing food they are either exposed in the water so that animals can settle upon them and be drawn into the mouth or they are pushed into the mud and the food adhering to them is conveyed to the mouth in the same manner the hermit crab is one of the most curious animals of the sea the rear part of its body has no hard covering so the animal seeks protection by inserting its soft and defenseless abdomen into some hollow object usually the shell of a snail the body becoming modified in shape to fit the spiral conformity of its home the crabs walk about very quickly and the houses upon their backs seem no incumbents it's an amusing sight to witness a hermit crab searching for a new home they soon outgrow their old ones and consequently do a great deal of house hunting this hermit crab has just found a dwelling place after examining carefully the empty shell he drags it off to some secluded spot so as to be able to move in quietly it's a simple matter exploring the shell by inserting its feelers into all its parts the crab evidently has some difficulty in deciding very often they try several shells before they find one that will fit this one appears to be having trouble locating the front door but when it does it will live in the shell and never leave it until it has outgrown it ah there's the door and the crab backs into its new home stopping up the entrance with its large front claw we see barnacles feeding a famous scientist once said a barnacle is an animal that lies on its back and kicks food into its mouth with its legs and that is exactly what we are witnessing the barnacles are classed in the same group with crabs and shrimps but for some unaccountable reason they attach themselves to objects at an early stage and live their adult lives as stationary animals this sausage-shaped creature is known as a sea cucumber one of the sea's strangest animals if the sea cucumber is attacked by a foal it will expel its internal organs and leave them to the enemy such self-mutilation even when it involves all of the intestines is not necessarily fatal for the sea cucumber can regenerate new internal organs the octopus a creature whose appearance has made it the highlight in many sensational works of fiction these animals belong to the same general group which comprises the snails and clams one of their strangest characteristics is their ability to change color on swimming or settling among the rocks they assume the color of their immediate surroundings another curious means of protection possessed by the octopus is an ink bag that ejects a black secretion which clouds the water when the animal wishes to escape from danger a large crab is slowly approaching the octopus quickly the octopus moves from its position ejecting large jets of black fluid as it swims away shielded from the view of its enemies by the marine smoke screen of its own manufacture it finds safety in the dark seclusion of the ocean's depths leaving with us just a vague impression of some of its hidden wonders [Music] you