Collins New Naturalist Library
34
The Open Sea – Its Natural History:
The World of Plankton
Alister C. Hardy
JAMES FISHER, M.A.
JOHN GILMOUR, M.A.
JULIAN HUXLEY, M.A., D.SC, F.R.S.
L. DUDLEY STAMP, G.B.E., D.LITT., D.SC.
PHOTOGRAPHIC EDITOR:
ERIC HOSKING, F.R.P.S.
The aim of this series is to interest the general reader in the wild life of Britain by recapturing the inquiring spirit of the old naturalists. The Editors believe that the natural pride of the British public in the native fauna and flora, to which must be added concern for their conservation, is best fostered by maintaining a high standard of accuracy combined with clarity of exposition in presenting the results of modern scientific research. The plants and animals are described in relation to their homes and habitats and are portrayed in the full beauty of their natural colours.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
THE MOVEMENT OF THE WATERS
PLANTS OF THE PLANKTON
SEASONS IN THE SEA
INTRODUCING THE ZOOPLANKTON
LITTLE JELLY-FISH AND LESSER FORMS OF LIFE
SIPHONOPHORES AND THE LARGER JELLY-FISH
MORE ANIMALS OF THE PLANKTON—BUT NOT THE CRUSTACEANS
THE PLANKTONIC CRUSTACEA
PELAGIC LARVAL FORMS
THE PUZZLE OF VERTICAL MIGRATION
LIFE IN THE DEPTHS
PHOSPHORESCENCE AND PHOTOPHORES
SQUIDS, CUTTLEFISH AND KIN
PLANKTON AND THE FISHERIES
PROFESSOR HARDY began his marine biologist’s life over a third of a century ago on his return from service in the first world war. After Oxford and a scholarship to the Stazione Zoologica at Naples, he soon became a member of the Fisheries Department in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries; and, in the middle ‘twenties, served as Chief Zoologist to the R.R.S. Discovery expedition, to the Antarctic seas, making a special study of plankton. His subsequent professorships—first at University College (now the University of) Kingston-upon-Hull; next at Aberdeen; and since 1945 at the University of Oxford—have brought him the highest academic status and honours, but have not kept him away from his beloved sea. In the closing stages of the writing of this volume, as the editors well remember, he was correcting the typescript, and completing his unique and wonderful colour illustrations, on the deck of the latest Royal Research Ship, Discovery II, scanning the contents of each netting or dredging, sketching new or rare creatures of the sea before their colour faded, applying himself to his research with an enthusiasm excelling that of most naturalists of half his age.
If the editorial board were asked to select from Professor Hardy’s many scientific qualities that which has contributed most to the creation of this extraordinary book, they would perhaps settle for enthusiasm. Throughout The Open Sea it is quite apparent that he is devotedly obsessed by, and interested in, animals; he is eternally curious about the nature of their adaptations and lives, brilliantly critical in the examination of their mysteries, acutely lucid and at the same time highly artistic in his depiction of them in his remarkable plates. It was a welcome burst of enthusiasm that caused Professor Hardy to write so much and so well of the life of the sea that he has written us two books instead of one. It is the first of these, concerned with the general natural history of the open sea and the world of its plankton, that we here welcome. The second part of The Open Sea concerns the open sea’s fish and fisheries, and will be published some time in 1957 or early 1958; like the present book, it will be illustrated by Professor Hardy’s own colour paintings, which represent what no colour-camera has yet been able to catch, and