Man Inside the Sea

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Compared to the knowledge that a lay person has about happenings on the sea surface, he has only a vague notion of what is to be found beneath the sea. This book strives to make available the various facets of the deep sea realm. Besides elaborating on the history and techniques of helmet, SCUBA and caisson diving, evolution of diving bells, military submarines and research submersibles, the book describes the numerous attempts made to live, and even breathe, in water

B. R. Chhapgar, former curator at the Taraporevala Aquarium, Bombay is an accomplished SCUBA diver and a marine biologist of international repute. A Life Fellow of the International Oceanographic Foundation, he has participated in the International Indian Ocean Expedition. A prolific writer, he has written six books on marine life, and over a hundred articles for scientific journals and popular science magazines.

The sea is large, wet and salty-this is known to everybody. But, to different persons, the sea means different things. To an artist, the gentle lapping of the waves and the sheet of smooth water stretching to the horizon is a subject for his paintings. The poet draws inspiration from the waves breaking with a thunderous roar during a storm. Sailors and merchants see the sea as a convenient way of getting their merchandise and cargo to far-off countries. And to the tourist, struck down by seasickness, it is an abominable impediment to his pleasures.

All these viewpoints have one thing in common, how- ever-in that they look on the sea as a large surface rather than as a volume of immense bulk and depth. This is only natural, since their experiences do not permit them to peer into its hidden recesses. But now there are many persons who think of the sea not as a top without bottom or contents, but as a mass of water not only of great depth, but also of great interest and value.

Until a few decades ago, man knew more about the surface of the moon than the bottom of the sea. Due to limitations of physiology, humans could not dive down into the depths of the sea as, say, a turtle, sea snake or sperm whale does. Hence, until recently, what we knew of the sea was as a result of dangling things from a rope or wire into the sea-as derisively put, it was only a "refinement of the time-honoured method of throwing over a bucket and seeing what it brought up".

Looking on to the sea from a boat, we see only the waving mirror of the sky reflected on the sea surface, rather than what is underneath. On peeping down from a cliff over- hanging the sea, we see a little through the blue-green waters, beyond the grey splash on the rocks with patches of green seaweeds. When we go for a swim, we see nothing of the watery world under us. But when we dive down under it, our eyes, stung by the salty water, are almost blinded to the mysteries surrounding us and see only an unfocussed haze. And if we cast an angling line, a crab pot, or drop a sounding-lead into the depths, we retrieve only chance and fragmentary information.

By now, you must have realised that man-a land creature-could have only an inkling of what was there, and what went on, beneath the lapping of the waves. He was not able to see in the depths of the sea, breathe beneath the sea surface, move around like a fish, or stay under water for hours. But man with his innate intelligence and curiosity has now been able to find ways to overcome the handicap of being a terrestrial creature, uncomfortable in water.

The hidden world beneath the sea has finally been opened to man, thanks to the many inventions made by him.