Abstract
DR. STANLEY KEMP is probably the leading authority on oceanography at present living. During the years which he spent cruising in the Antarctic, he finally elucidated the circulation of the water in that ocean and proved its bearing on the habits and life-histories of the various species of whale which go south during the brief Antarctic summer in. order to feed and grow fat and during this period fall a prey to whalers. He discovered the amazing fact that the largest of them all, the Southern Fin-Whale, fads practically exclusively on one small species of ‘shrimp’ about 2 inches long. The baby whale when born is 20 feet long; it grows to a length of 50 feet during its first year, and attains its full size (100 feet long) in less than five years. He showed farther that each antarctic summer is characterized by an enormous growth of diatoms on which these ‘shrimps‘ feed and consequently a rich oxygenation of the sea-water due to photosynthesis. As this water flows north to the antarctic circle it sinks from the surface to an ultimate depth of about 600 fathoms and it takes approximately five years to reach the equator. The sequence of antarctic summers can be traced in the patches of oxygenated water which it contains, and the intensity of the oxygenation of each patch marks the degree of warmth of the corresponding summer. Dr. Kemp's appointment is therefore a happy augury for the future of Plymouth and for fishery science in general. It is becoming increasingly clear that the variations in British fisheries are connected with variations in intensity of a southward flow of arctic water carrying with it stupendous harvests of diatoms and shoals of the most sought-after edible fish. Oceanographic exploration based partly on Plymouth may be as fruitful in the endeavour to elucidate the life-histories of these fish as antarctic exploration has been in unravelling the life-history of the whale.
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Dr. Stanley Kemp, F.R.S.. Nature 138, 235 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138235c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138235c0