German Sea Around Us Booklet
German Sea Around Us Booklet
Here is a cleaned up translation of this vintage German booklet on Irwin Allen's The Sea Around US with the help of AI:
In the beginning God created heaven and earth. And the earth was void and empty - a fiery sphere, covered with glowing streams of lava. Then came the time when the fires went out. The great silence lay over the lifeless planet. After millions of years, the first rain began to fall, incessantly, for centuries. The rain became the sea and flooded a large part of the earth. The layer of clouds that had until then enveloped our planet disappeared and allowed the sun’s rays to shine through. They now reflected in the newborn oceans.
Through a miracle that no scientist has yet been able to explain, life arose in the depths of the sea: microscopically small creatures, which over immense spans of time developed into increasingly complex forms - into algae, crabs, fish - and eventually found their way onto land. The cradle of all living things is the sea, and perhaps from this comes man’s eternal longing to master this element. It has always been the scene of struggles and adventures, and today man has conquered the underwater realm with submarines and other technical means.
When the first underwater camera was built, it became possible to observe and capture animals and plants down there in pictures. Colorful diatoms are true jewels of the sea. Jellyfish - giant medusas - float mysteriously through the glassy brightness. Shrimps, which look like devout monks, move in circles. Even in this world the struggle for existence reigns with cruel severity: a hydra seizes a bristle worm that fights desperately; over there a shark is in the deadly grip of a giant squid - but its sharp teeth are terrible weapons. Not all fights can the shark win. Its most feared opponent is man.
In Florida there is an aquarium full of these predators, brought in alive and under the care of a “shark catcher” - a profession that requires strong nerves. In 1949 it was achieved for the first time to reach a depth of 2,000 meters, with the help of a specially constructed steel sphere able to withstand the enormous water pressure. It is not merely curiosity and the urge for records that repeatedly spur such attempts. Beneath the seabed lie many treasures still unclaimed - oil and coal deposits, for example - which could one day be exploited.
The aqualung and snorkel have opened up a new field for sportsmen. They experience scenes of fairytale beauty in the jungle world of the oceans — although manta rays, octopuses, and sharks are rather unwelcome companions on such excursions. More primitive than these “amateurs” work the sponge divers of Florida. Often they still dive with a marble weight tied to their feet, relying on their breathing technique. The tool with which they work their “underwater farm” is a small rake.
Meeting the clown of the sea - the dolphin - is a delightful experience. He is one of the cleverest and most teachable fellows among the sea dwellers. The creatures of the sea often have more enemies in the air than in the water: cormorants and other water birds are skilled fishers, and seals and bears also do not disdain the delicacies that a herring or salmon represents.
Sometimes animals form strange friendships and protective alliances. A small fish hides among the spines of a sea urchin, and the little percula fish lure prey into the tentacles of a giant sea anemone. A lucky coincidence allows the camera a glimpse into the nursery of the sea turtles: for nine weeks, sun and sand have incubated the eggs buried in the beach; now the young hatch. They find their way to the sea instinctively. One day these finger-long creatures will weigh 150 kilograms - but many fall victim to enemies before then! Not even half survive the first day in their watery element.
The same harsh struggle with wind, weather, and merciless predators faces every young animal born in the sea or on its coasts - the seals, for example, born in the Arctic. Here in the icy wasteland lie the great riddles of the world. From here, one day, the catastrophe may begin that will destroy the earth and its inhabitants: billions of tons of ice will melt, the oceans will overflow their shores, and in a roaring flood cities and villages, man and beast, will drown.
In the beginning God created heaven and earth. And the earth was void and empty - a fiery sphere, covered with glowing streams of lava. Then came the time when the fires went out. The great silence lay over the lifeless planet. After millions of years, the first rain began to fall, incessantly, for centuries. The rain became the sea and flooded a large part of the earth. The layer of clouds that had until then enveloped our planet disappeared and allowed the sun’s rays to shine through. They now reflected in the newborn oceans.
Through a miracle that no scientist has yet been able to explain, life arose in the depths of the sea: microscopically small creatures, which over immense spans of time developed into increasingly complex forms - into algae, crabs, fish - and eventually found their way onto land. The cradle of all living things is the sea, and perhaps from this comes man’s eternal longing to master this element. It has always been the scene of struggles and adventures, and today man has conquered the underwater realm with submarines and other technical means.
When the first underwater camera was built, it became possible to observe and capture animals and plants down there in pictures. Colorful diatoms are true jewels of the sea. Jellyfish - giant medusas - float mysteriously through the glassy brightness. Shrimps, which look like devout monks, move in circles. Even in this world the struggle for existence reigns with cruel severity: a hydra seizes a bristle worm that fights desperately; over there a shark is in the deadly grip of a giant squid - but its sharp teeth are terrible weapons. Not all fights can the shark win. Its most feared opponent is man.
In Florida there is an aquarium full of these predators, brought in alive and under the care of a “shark catcher” - a profession that requires strong nerves. In 1949 it was achieved for the first time to reach a depth of 2,000 meters, with the help of a specially constructed steel sphere able to withstand the enormous water pressure. It is not merely curiosity and the urge for records that repeatedly spur such attempts. Beneath the seabed lie many treasures still unclaimed - oil and coal deposits, for example - which could one day be exploited.
The aqualung and snorkel have opened up a new field for sportsmen. They experience scenes of fairytale beauty in the jungle world of the oceans — although manta rays, octopuses, and sharks are rather unwelcome companions on such excursions. More primitive than these “amateurs” work the sponge divers of Florida. Often they still dive with a marble weight tied to their feet, relying on their breathing technique. The tool with which they work their “underwater farm” is a small rake.
Meeting the clown of the sea - the dolphin - is a delightful experience. He is one of the cleverest and most teachable fellows among the sea dwellers. The creatures of the sea often have more enemies in the air than in the water: cormorants and other water birds are skilled fishers, and seals and bears also do not disdain the delicacies that a herring or salmon represents.
Sometimes animals form strange friendships and protective alliances. A small fish hides among the spines of a sea urchin, and the little percula fish lure prey into the tentacles of a giant sea anemone. A lucky coincidence allows the camera a glimpse into the nursery of the sea turtles: for nine weeks, sun and sand have incubated the eggs buried in the beach; now the young hatch. They find their way to the sea instinctively. One day these finger-long creatures will weigh 150 kilograms - but many fall victim to enemies before then! Not even half survive the first day in their watery element.
The same harsh struggle with wind, weather, and merciless predators faces every young animal born in the sea or on its coasts - the seals, for example, born in the Arctic. Here in the icy wasteland lie the great riddles of the world. From here, one day, the catastrophe may begin that will destroy the earth and its inhabitants: billions of tons of ice will melt, the oceans will overflow their shores, and in a roaring flood cities and villages, man and beast, will drown.