Kristy Pawlak

7 May 2004

Research Journal: Ocean Exploration: The Facts, The Fiction, and the Somewhere In-Between

            Squeals of delight from children and exclamations of wonder from adults surrounded me.  I heard them all as if through a tunnel.  My breath grew shallow; my heart pounded; and my jaw clenched.  What was I doing?  Just think of those endlessly deep waters waiting to suck me under!  What about the deadly predators just lurking ahead?  I struggled for composure as my jaw locked time and again in protest at being clenched so tightly.  Salt water rushed into my mouth and made me gag.  Was I on my first deep sea scuba dive?  How about swimming with the dolphins at the marine habitat?  No, I was, along with about forty others, about three yards from a boat on a reef in the Bahamas.  I was attempting to snorkel.  I couldn’t.  I panicked.  Dutifully, my husband relieved me of the underwater camera, said nothing of the $40 boat ride I’d just taken, and watched me climb back into the boat to drink rum punch and hang out with a five year old who was afraid of the water.  The scene was repeated that evening as we strolled under an aquarium tunnel.  I could only see the glass breaking and the water rushing around us as the sharks and stingrays mercilessly attacked.

            I don’t like the ocean.  It is deep and dark and filled with unseen dangers.  I cannot understand the fascination so many have with exploring it up close and personal.  An IMAX film works great for me!  So many of my friends go on scuba trips or dream about going; I’d as soon jump out of an airplane (which I never, ever plan to do!).  Never mind the fact that less than twenty-four hours later I hovered almost a hundred feet above the ocean tethered to the back of a boat–that was great! I was assured that there was no way I would end up in the water; I’d be reeled right into the boat.  So, maybe I’m just a baby, but as anyone knows, irrational fears are just that–irrational.  It makes no difference to me that I can drown as easily skiing on Lake Travis as I can snorkeling in the ocean–probably more easily–I’m not scared of that.  I am terrified of the ocean. 

            As we read this semester of brave explorers who crossed polar regions, deserts, and even galaxies, I realized that these were special men and women.  They have a drive in them that all of us don’t have.  They have a mission to go, explore, and learn about the territory and themselves.  Reading these stories I knew that I would never be an explorer, but the exploits we read about still didn’t terrify me the way the idea of exploring the ocean does.  I thought that if maybe, just maybe, I did a little exploring myself I would understand the allure of the ocean and its relentless pull on so many explorers.  Now don’t fancy for a moment that I headed for the Gulf and jumped in; I simply gathered a variety of accounts from fiction to non-fiction, still photography to movies and examined them.  Maybe through these texts I would be able to find the reason for my fear or even an impulse that would leave me wanting to take another chance with the snorkeling expedition.

            To truly understand any topic it is imperative to understand the history behind it.  Ocean exploration has a long historical background and I begin my exploration with an in-depth look at both the science and people involved.  This I share in the first section of this journal.  After exploring some general background on the technology of ocean exploration gleaned from several sources, I review Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso, which brings to life the legendary travels of one of the world’s most well-known ocean explorers and explains the interesting Conshelf underwater habitat projects.  In this section I also look at the depiction of several important people in underwater exploration by reviewing the book, Sea of Dreamers by Phil Trupp. 

            From there I wished to examine a work of fiction involving ocean exploration and the obvious choice was Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  I briefly explore my own thoughts about the book and incorporate some comments from the intorduction to my edition. To accompany this leg of my journey of exploration I examine two short pieces related to the book.  The first, taken from the website www.technovelgy.com, explores the scientific firsts conceived by Verne and later either used as a staple in science fiction or developed in actuality.  Next, I look at a review of the novel by Tamara Hladik on www.scifi.com.   I wrap up this section of my journal with my thoughts on the 1954 film version of the novel by Disney.

            One aspect of 20,000 Leagues not highlighted in the movie, but of particular interest to me is their exploration of the lost city of Atlantis.  Appropriately, my less than stellar snorkeling experience took place at a resort sharing its name with this legendary place.  Perhaps more than any other legend of the ocean, Atlantis has captured the imaginations of explorers.  In this journal section, I explore the myth and the attempts to find the fabled paradise, from Plato to modern discoveries in the Aegean sea.  I also review one work of fiction, Robert Silverberg’s Letters from Atlantis and one film, Disney’s animated, Atlantis: The Lost Empire.  Finally, I review two web sites, ranging from the whimsical to the informational.

            And so my very own exploration begins, it may be as close as I ever come to being an explorer, or it may open up new possibilities as I discover the lures of the deep, blue sea.

Part 1: The History and the People

            Due to the obvious fact that man cannot survive for long under water, the scientific development of diving equipment is the most important aspect of ocean exploration.  Attempts to develop equipment for deep sea diving are the stuff of legends and centuries old historical accounts.  The story of Scyllis is recorded by 5^th century B.C. historian, Herodotus.  Around 500 B.C. this Greek man was taken prisoner by the Persians.  When he learned of their intent to attack a Greek flotilla, he jumped over board.  Using a thin reed to breathe under the water, he cut all the Persian ships loose and swam nine miles back to the Greek fleet (Martin 1).

            Aristotle also contributes to the early account of divers.  He tells of 4^th century B.C. Greek divers who breathed air trapped in kettles as they gathered sponges.  Legends also tell of Alexander the Great being lowered into the ocean within a glass enclosure.  In the 1^st century B.C., women in the Pacific engaged in breath-hold diving as they gathered food from the sea floor (Earle 286).  This ancient tradition is still practiced among ama divers in Japan and pearl divers in the Tuamoto Archipelago (Martin 2).

            From these exploits we can fast forward through history to the year 1530 when the first diving bell is invented.  A diving bell is a rigid side vessel, usually very small in size in which one or two men can be lowered into the water while secured to a ship on the surface.  In 1690, a man famous for his contribution to exploration of the heavens, Edmund Halley, improved the diving bell with the addition of weighted air barrels connected to the bell by a pipe.  The air in these barrels could be replenished from the surface.  This invention proved that diving bells could be practical tools.  The next improvement in the diving bell spread the use of the device all over the world.  In 1778, a hand-pump was added that supplied fresh compressed air while a non-return valve kept the air from escaping the hose when the pump was not being used.  The improved bell soon became used for salvage work all over the world (Martin 4).

            In 1837, Augustus Siebe, who would later be called the father of diving, developed a closed diving suit which consisted of a diving helmet connected to a watertight rubber suit.  This suit is still used as a prototype for hard-hat rigs.  It was in 1865 that a major step was taken in the development of individual diving suits.  The “aerophone” was a steel tank full of compressed air which was worn on the back of the diver.  It was replenished via a hose from the surface, but the major development was that the diver could disconnect himself from the hose for brief periods.  As we will see later in this journal, this invention figures largely in 20,000 Leagues written just a few years later in 1869 (Martin 5-6).

            William Beebe, one of the most important names in diving history, pioneered the bathysphere, a round vessel attached to a ship by cable.  In 1930, he descended 1426 feet.  He followed this in 1934 with a descent to 3028 feet.  During the 1950's the bathysphere inspired the invention of a new type of vessel called the bathyscaphe.  Because it was self-contained (not attached to the ship), the bathyscaphe was able to dive much deeper than any previous vessel.  A bathyscaphe reached a record depth of 13,287 feet on February 15, 1954.  It was a bathyscaphe that made the deepest dive ever on January 23, 1960.  The Trieste dove to the bottom of the Mariana Trench achieving a depth of 35,820 feet.  This is the deepest place in the ocean and so a deeper dive will never occur (Martin 8-11) .

            At the same time such remarkable advancements were being made in submersible vessels, Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan were perfecting the Aqua Lung.  By the end of 1943, they had perfected and tested the first scuba apparatus of its kind.  It was open-circuited (the used air was discharged into the water) and on-demand (provided air to the diver upon the intake of breath, not continuously).  From 1943 to 1947 dives with the Aqua Lung increased in depth from 210 to 307 feet.  Cousteau would soon pioneer another major development, an underwater habitat known as Diogenes, part of the project Conshelf One (Martin 10-11).  This monumental project and its successors will be covered in detail in the following review of Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso.

            Before moving on to that review, I would like to look at one more development which made a huge impact on the world of ocean exploration–the submersible named Alvin.  Since the 1930's researcher Allyn Vine had dreamed of developing a submersible vehicle that could carry researchers deep on the ocean floor where they could collect samples, take pictures, and, most importantly, move around freely.  It was not until the 1960's that his dream became a reality.  In what would be one of the most influential locations for ocean research, the Deep Submergence Group formed in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.  Here a group of scientists and engineers collaborated to design the sub which in its final form was about the size of a pick-up truck.  It was able to use battery power in order to move its mechanical arm and power itself in all directions.  It could either hover above the ocean floor or land on skis.  After much debate, the subs original name, Sea Pup, was changed to Alvin after the cartoon chipmunk.  The navy almost vetoed such a “silly” name until they found out that the name meant “Noble Friend.”  Alvin took its first dive on June 26, 1964.  Through the years Alvin has gone through many adventures, including one wreck from which many thought it was unsalvageable.  New technology has been added and Alvin has undergone many facelifts, but to this day it remains one of the workhorses of underwater exploration (Kovacs 5, 11, 13-15, 22-25).

Review: Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso

Cousteau, Jacques, and Alexis Sivirine. Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso. New York: Abrams, 1983.

            Written by Jacques Cousteau and Alexis Sivirine, this coffee table style book traces the adventures of Cousteau’s research vessel, Calypso.  The opening section briefly tells of the history and acquisition of the vessel.  Calypso began life as a World War II minesweeper and had later been used as a ferry boat.  Cousteau found the ship in a naval surplus yard and thanks to the financial backing of Noel Guinness began to outfit it to be a world class research vessel (15).  The rest of the book tells of all the adventures of Calypso in exhaustive detail.  For the purposes of this research journal the detail was more in-depth than necessary.  There were two aspects of this book which make it worthwhile to this journal–the photography and the accounts of Cousteau’s underwater habitat projects.

            The photography must be seen to be appreciated, but I can say that it serves to bring to life the technology and underwater habitats that defy the ability of the mind to conjure with even the best written descriptions.  What I will relate is the account of the Conshelf projects.  These will complete this section on the technology of underwater exploration.  The idea for underwater habitats came about as a result of a diving method developed by Dr. George Bond.  The saturation method was developed as an answer to problem of decompression accidents.  These accidents occur because gasses, particularly nitrogen, enter the diver’s bloodstream from the air tank.  The gasses dissolve in the bloodstream and later release as bubbles back into the bloodstream.  This causes sickness which varies in intensity, often called “the bends.”  Divers traditionally avoid this by stopping at various intervals during their ascent to gradually decompress.  This is both time consuming and expensive on projects which require several days’ worth of diving.  The answer was that if divers could stay underwater long enough for their blood to become saturated then they could stay there for extended periods of time.  This saturation method led to the necessity of creating a way for divers to live underwater (73-74).

            The first underwater habitat project was undertaken by Cousteau and was called the Conshelf project.  The plan was to devise a way for two men to live for one week at 37' below the surface and make daily research dives to depths of 65'.  The project built a habitat called Diogenes (after the Greek philosopher who did his best thinking underwater in his bathtub).  The project was successfully completed and the men inside were called “aquanauts” (74-75).

            Conshelf I was followed by Conshelf II.  Cousteau had more ambitious goals for this project than for its predecessor.  It was to allow men to live for one month at 33' while working at 60' while in a smaller house another set of men would be able to live for one week at 82' and work at 160'.  Finally, a garage of sorts was to be built to house a diving saucer.  The habitat became known as the “Starfish” house because of its arrangement of living quarters in “legs” around central common area.  Divers living in the small house were able to make dives of depths of up to 330'.  This expensive project was financed by a film Cousteau produced of the project for which he won an Academy award (75-76).

            Finally, Conshelf III allowed six men to live underwater for twenty seven days.  Jacques’ son Phillippe was on board and spoke by phone to former astronaut turned aquanaut, Scott Carpenter, by phone while he was in another underwater habitat under the Pacific ocean.  The film of this project greatly helped to popularize Cousteau’s work among Americans.  Eventually, underwater habitats became widely used for research projects, but Cousteau and others acknowledged that any dreams of long-term ocean floor settlement were still highly impractical (83-85).

           

            While technology makes underwater exploits possible, alone it would accomplish nothing.  It is the remarkable men and women behind the technology that bravely pioneer the depths that others cannot fathom.  Through the review of Sea of Dreamers, I will briefly highlight three people who made remarkable contributions to the field of ocean exploration.

 

Review: A Sea of Dreamers

Trupp, Phil. Sea of Dreamers: Travels with Famous Ocean Explorers. Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 1998.

 

            Phil Trupp is a journalist and amateur explorer who relates his first hand accounts of adventures and interviews with some of the most well-respected researchers in ocean exploration.  These memoir accounts are engaging and well-written.  Though his tendency to slip backward and forward through time in his accounts can be somewhat distracting, the first person narrative helps him to guide the reader nicely through his personal journey of discovery.  We get a personal account of explorers whom we might only get to meet otherwise in formal biographies.  Three people we meet through Trupp’s experiences are Jacques Cousteau, Cindy Lee Van Dover, and Dr. Eugenie Clark.

            Trupp’s chapter about Cousteau is entitled “The Pasha and His Magic Lung.”  He skillfully draws the reader into the chapter by sharing the story of his own first encounter with scuba.  He shares the fascination which took over him when he first discovered the magic of being able to breathe underwater.  He skillfully segues this into a discussion of Jacques Cousteau, the co-inventor of the Aqua Lung, the invention that revolutionized diving and made it accessible to the average man.

            According to Trupp, Cousteau was not only a revolutionary thinker, but a poet, and, perhaps most importantly, a man in touch with the public.  Through his films and television specials Cousteau brought the underwater world into living rooms around the world.  The scientific world often scoffed at him, as they often do any of their fold who try to popularize their work, but what they failed to perceive is that public interest translates into funds for further research.  Cousteau’s knack for lyrical language had a profound affect on his audiences.  He understood that in order to capture the hearts and minds of the public, he needed to create a “popular urge to explore the sea.”  Cousteau’s breakthrough moment in his effort to popularize ocean exploration came when he added photography to his descriptions and then later began using film (113-117).

            Though Trupp admits to being somewhat star struck by Cousteau, whose nickname is Pasha, he is honest in his representation of the icon’s flaws.  Trupp relates that Cousteau was the creator of the “aqua-ego” persona.  His was an ego that created a dynasty.  And like all dynasties, this one had its share of conflict.  For one, Cousteau could not envision the possibility that his sons would choose to do anything other than work with in his carefully built world.  It was a shock when his son, Jean-Michael not only left his operation, but went into competition with him (118-119).

            Though Trupp tried often, through every channel available, he was unable to get an audience with Cousteau.  When he finally encountered him, the now elderly Cousteau unceremoniously dismissed his attempts at conversation.  Rather than disenchant Trupp, the encounter reinforced his admiration.  Trupp recalls “a radiance, a commanding confidence” (129). 

            In the chapter, “Brave Hearts” Trupp relates his experiences getting to know two of the few women who have made a profound effect on ocean exploration.  The first is Cindy Lee Van Dover.  As the only woman ever to pilot Alvin, Van Dover is used to dealing with obstacles, both personally and professionally.  Over the course of years, Trupp builds a close relationship with Van Dover through letters, e-mail, and face-to-face meetings.  He relates many of these as he tells of the revolutionary claims she makes with her studies.  Van Dover’s research revolves around a light that only she had noticed around submerge volcanoes on the sea floor.  This became known as the “Van Dover glow” and had far-reaching possibilities for the world of science.  If this hydrothermal glow produced something akin to light, as evidenced in the discovery of sight membranes on previously “sightless” deep sea shrimp, then could all life have begun here in the depths of the ocean?  A radical assertion, but one that Van Dover was ready to make (134, 142-143).

            Like Cousteau, Van Dover received much criticism from colleagues who, having no luck discrediting her because of her sex, turned to the time-honored tradition of belittling her work because of her mainstream popularity.  In 1996, she published a book The Octopus’s Garden.  She was later featured in Discover magazine, The New York Times, and Esquire.  Also, Trupp claims that, like Cousteau, Van Dover is an artistic writer whose imagery brings you right into her world (133-135).

            One of the most useful aspects of Trupp’s writing about Van Dover is the inclusion of the almost daily e-mails she sent to him from her excursion aboard the RV Melville in the southern Pacific between Peru and Bolivia.  Of this trip Van Dover said, “It’s an exciting place to explore.  Jules Verne would be so envious of me” (156).  These e-mails are the least formal first person accounts I read from an ocean explorer.  As a whole, ocean explorers seem to be more gifted writers than the polar explorers or astronauts we read.  What these e-mails allow is a glimpse at an almost log-book style writing that was not intended for public perusal.  The language was more scientific, and more fact filled, but as she was still writing to a journalist rather than a fellow scientist, still descriptive.  These e-mails were the closest I came to the first level of non-fiction covered in our course syllabus (156-161).

            According to Trupp, Van Dover was a true explorer.  She has a rare vision which she will tirelessly pursue until the end of her days.  While her focus will always be the ocean and her revolutionary hydrothermal vents, she feels an affinity with all explorers, especially those of space.  She said of them, “They are like me privileged children of the sixties, the moon time, who were given dreams and never had to give them up” (163).

            The next person we meet through Trupp is Dr. Eugenie Clark, known to friends as Genie, known to the world as “The Shark Lady.”  A larger than life persona of Cousteau-like ego, Clark would singlehandedly set out to debunk the monster image of the oceans most feared predator.  Trupp, opens up the personal side of Clark through the telling of her many failed, but romantic marriages and her struggles to maintain her biracial heritage–she is Japanese American.  But perhaps more than any other scientist or explorer mentioned, she doesn’t need to be personable to be interesting, the woman trains sharks!  Like our other explorers, Clark has a way with words and it was through her book, Lady with a Spear, that she caught the attention of Anne Vanderbilt.  This proved to be the turning point of her life (164-171), .

            The Vanderbilts offered to finance Clark in establishing a research laboratory of her own.  The site was selected, Cape Haze, on the Florida Gulf Coast, a region with delightfully shark infested waters.  Clark teamed up with Beryl Chadwick and the pair got off to a modest, unheralded start.  However, it was not long until her work began to attract attention.  Through Pavlovian type exercises, Clark began to prove that sharks were far more intelligent than they had previously been given credit for.  They were easily trained to receive food when pushing a button and it soon became clear that they could differentiate certain patterns and shapes.  In addition, there appeared to be at some sort of communication between the sharks as they vied for the treats.  Her findings were later proven in the open sea with sharks that had never been in captivity (172-176).

            Another endeavor that brought her both funds and attention was the discovery of two types of sole that appeared to have some sort of chemical shark repellant in their glands.  The Navy was particularly interested in this research and contributed funds towards the project.  In the end it was not practical to synthesize the substance, but Clark’s reputation in the field was long since secured (176-177). 

            In the late 1950's Clark met Cousteau and it became apparent that they could be mutually beneficial to each other.  Though they often competed for top-billing, Clark’s time aboard Calypso was pleasurable for both of them.  She was able to aid him in dramatic, public thrilling shark encounter scenes and he gave her the opportunity to experiment with sharks in their natural environment.  According to Trupp, Clark is the only scientist able to rival Cousteau in the public eye.  Upon his death she became the reigning elder statesman of ocean exploration (183).

 

 

Part 2: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Verne, Jules. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. New York: Scholastic, 2000

            Well, if you want to make Poe’s Pym seem like the clearest, most readable prose ever written then just read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  When I explained to my mom the project I was working on and told her my lack of affinity for Verne’s classic work, she was surprised.  She said, “That was the only book I ever saw my grandaddy Harsch ever reading.”  I replied that he probably figured that if that was what books were like he never needed to read another!  All joking aside, the novel is very hard to get through.  His endless descriptions of sea life using their scientific names and classifications make the book dense and tiresome.  As recommended in the introduction to the Scholastic Classics edition sometimes you have to “skip some of the stuff.” 

            So, this aspect of 20,000 Leagues is similar to Pym in that Poe often resorted to long, boring technical descriptions of ship packing and such.  Why do they do this?  I think that they are attempting to lure their reader into a fictional world by grounding it in real facts, names, and places, and to a certain extent, it works.  Somehow, despite the shortcomings of both books, I can understand their appeal.  As this journal is about ocean exploration, I will refocus on 20,000 Leagues.

            There are three aspects of the novel which I think overcome the shortcomings in the writing style: the characters and creatures, the adventures, and the technology.  Captain Nemo is a powerful study in ego and revenge.  His ego is ironic in light of the name he has chosen for himself which literally means Captain Nobody.  He is a character that appears in modern culture as seen in the recent movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and even in his namesake Nemo in Finding Nemo though the name is where that similarity ends.  Likewise, the creatures in the book are still compelling today.  In 1870, the same as today, the ocean holds mysteries that we can only wonder at and imagine.  The giant Octopus and the enormous oyster with its priceless pearl are compelling in that we cannot deny their existence. 

            I must also respect the scope of the novel in that its adventures encompass almost every legend and mystery that the sea holds.  They get to walk in undersea forests, explore ship wrecks, visit Atlantis, and see polar regions.  As far as adventure goes, you really can’t ask for much more than Verne offers up.  And best of all, he doesn’t have to make it possible, we’re in his world, who are we to argue?

            Finally, I really did find myself amazed at the technologies that Verne was able to dream up for Nautilus.  The most modern, workable submarine in existence at the time Verne wrote this book was about 40 feet long and carried a crew of nine, eight who cranked a propeller and one who steered and operated the hand pumps that controlled the water level in the ballast tanks.  A far cry from Nemo’s vessel which rivaled the Titanic in luxury!  Furthermore, the scuba gear featured prominently in the novel’s underwater excursions is said to be an example of the 1865 invention mentioned in the historical section of this journal, but, if you notice, Verne took this invention a step further.  His scuba gear allowed for extended periods disconnected from the ship, not just a few minutes as the actual invention allowed.  If science fiction is characterized by its close relationship with scientific possibilities then I would say that Verne did a remarkable job in this aspect of 20,000 Leagues.  This leads into my discussion of a brief piece I found on a web site regarding the science of 20,000 Leagues. 

 

Review: www.technovelgy.com

            This website “is devoted to the creative inventions of science fiction authors and movie makers.”  In this piece three elements of 20,000 Leagues are examined for their scientific contribution to the world of science fiction.  First, the “use of substantial electrical charge applied to outer hull to repel potential boarders” (1).  This refers, of course, to the incident where the natives are repelled as they try to invade Nautilus.  As they reach the stairwell it becomes electrified and the natives jump ship.  According to this website, though this is now a fairly standard device in science fiction, this is the first time this plot device is used.  The second device that catches the eye of technovelgy.com is the Leydon ball, “a device for hunting underwater; transfers a powerful electric charge to the prey.”  The website claims that this is the grandfather of that all important sci-fi weapon, the taser.  Finally, the website points to the Nautilus itself, a submarine ahead of its time, filled with gadgets ahead of its time, as an example of what technology in science fiction is all about.

 

            At this point I’d also like to include a few comments on a review of 20,000 Leagues found on a sci-fi web site.  I thought that this was at least worth a glance because of the amount of time we spent on modern science fiction within the class.  I wondered what an “expert” sci-fi reader thought of Verne’s classic.

 

Review: Review by Tamara Hladik of www. Scifi.com of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

            Near the beginning of her review, Hladik comments “Meticulous detail. Very meticulous.”  As mentioned before in my own comments, I could not agree more.  Hladik goes on to insightfully explain what I said rather clumsily, that is, how this book has become “so invested into modern culture that hardly anyone nowadays has read it” and yet we all know it.  She makes the point that Verne demonstrated profound insightfulness “regarding future technology and humanity’s interaction with it.”  Taken as we all are with the wonders of the Nautilus, Hladik criticizes the novel as being plotless and without an overall structure.  She calls it “a very long travelogue.”  Finally, Hladik makes a move that I am not ready to make with the novel as she touches briefly on the idea of the imperialism present in 19^th century Europe which “sought to plant its flag on any new land mass, regardless of who might already live there.”  What exactly she thought the book was saying about such a philosophy, Hladik doesn’t explain and I cannot guess. 

            Finally, I feel that where Verne fails as a writer, he excels in imagination.  Where better do fantastic worlds and thrilling adventures come alive than in the movies?  So, I snuggled up on the couch for the least taxing part of this project and watched Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Review: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Dir. Richard Fleisher. Perf. Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Peter Lorre. Disney, 1954.

 

            Having no experience at writing a movie review and no real knowledge of cinematography I cannot give a very professional sounding review of this or any other movie.  All I can say is what I liked and what I didn’t.  As far as casting goes, Kirk Douglas is a great Ned Land.  His larger than life persona and his over-the-top sailor antics somehow suit the story.  As far as Professor Arronax and Conseil go, they seemed a bit too old and the professor a bit to Henry Higginsish, but aside from a few Three Scrooge type moments, the characters seemed to work.  Captain Nemo was sufficiently brooding and mysterious, though I somehow pictured him a bit older.  As far as the storyline went, the modifications that were made did not disrupt the overall effect of the novel.  I do wish that they had not left out the visit to Atlantis, since the final portion of my research deals with it.  I think that the most ambitious and most striking part of the movie is the battle with the giant Octopus.  I think that it is so well done that it barely even dates itself the way most special effects quickly do.  Perhaps this is why it won the Academy Award for Best Special Effects!   Overall, the movie does what good movie adaptations do–it stays faithful to the book as a whole; it introduces a work of literature and its characters to those who would otherwise not know them; and finally, it just might entice someone who doesn’t normally read to pick up the book.

 

Part 3: Atlantis

            No journal of ocean exploration could be truly complete without a look at the lost continent of Atlantis.  Not only is it the most pervasive ocean related myth we have, but it also figures largely in real life quests and explorations to find the fabled city.  I plan to introduce the story of Atlantis from its origins in Plato’s writing and look at a few of the variations on the story which have occurred throughout the years.  Next, I will review the science fiction novel, Letters from Atlantis, and the animated film Atlantis: The Lost Empire.  I will wrap this final section up with a look at two web sites which deal with Atlantis.

            The legend of Atlantis was first written down by Plato.  He supposedly heard the story from a Greek statesman, Solon, who had spent time in Egypt.  It was there Solon was told of Atlantis and he was told of it as a fact, not a legend.  Plato wrote down the account in two works, Timaeus and Critias.  According to Plato, Atlantis is located in the Atlantic Ocean west of the pillars of Hercules (the Strait of Gibraltar).  He wrote that it was a large island continent bigger than Asia Minor and Libya combined (Libya at that time referred to all of Africa that was not Egypt).  Plato tells of a dominant and aggressive society that sought to dominate the Mediterranean world.  The Athenians took the worst part of their aggression.  According to Plato, Atlantis was destroyed around 9000 years before he was writing his account (Braymer 3,9). 

            Plato goes into great depth as he relates the history of Atlantis.  The island had been given to Poseidon when the gods portioned up the world among themselves.  He married a mortal, Cleito, and thus begun the royal family of Atlantis.  Poseidon enshrined his wife in the center of the island in a hilltop fortress surrounded by rings of water and land.  Atlas was the eldest son of the couple and was made king of the island; his nine brothers were made princes and each son was given a large territory to rule.  Atlas was given possession of his mother’s hilltop acropolis and he passed it down to his eldest son who became king.  This succession of the kingdom from eldest son to his eldest son continued for many generations (Braymer 9-11).

            Plato tells us that Atlantis was both peaceful and prosperous.  It had every type of natural resource needed and anything that they desired that was not native was easily imported.  Through the generations the kings took pleasure in expanding their kingdom.  They built temples, a canal suitable for the largest ships, and eventually a great wall surrounding Atlantis.  The original center island that housed Cleito became a holy shrine and a temple was erected in honor of Poseidon.  The temple was made of ivory, gold, silver, and orichalcum (a substance now extinct, but then very valuable).  There were hot and cold springs for bathing, gymnasia for exercise, and lavish cultured gardens (Braymer 11-17).  Plato goes into much more depth regarding the city and its culture, but it can all be summed up in the famous quote from Timaeus, “now in the island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire, . . . But there occured violent earthquakes and floods, and in a single day and night of rain the island of Atlantis disappeared, and was sunk beneath the sea” (Silverberg frwd).

            Claims that Atlantis has been found have been made for centuries and the more advanced ocean exploration becomes, the more the city is sought.  Among those who believe in Atlantis, the most likely candidate of the moment lies in the Aegean Sea on the island of Santorini aka Thera.  This island is located about seventy miles north of Crete and is still partially above water.   According to some people who are devoted to the study of Atlantis, Plato’s account is factual, but exaggerated.  Some even claim that he regularly multiplied everything by a factor of ten in order to make a point.  Furthermore, in specific relation to the Atlantis/ Santorini debate, Plato was trying to use the demise of this thriving city to teach a lesson.  However, his contemporaries were familiar with the actual story of the demise of Santorini and so it lacked the romance needed for a fable.  Therefore, Plato moved it to a distant sea in a distant time, renamed it, inflated its dimensions,a and POOF! instant lesson teaching moral legend.  This viewpoint is important when trying to reconcile the differences in Plato’s account of Atlantis and the facts of the island of Santorini.  So, modern scholars can only postulate that this ancient island that seems in so many ways just like at Atlantis–it was a perfectly round island with a beautiful city at its center; it was a thriving and prosperous kingdom; it was probably destroyed suddenly by volcanic activity and the resulting floods–is Atlantis.  And for believers in the factor of ten theory, Santorini was destroyed about nine hundred years before Plato’s time (Sullivan 26, 32).

            Legend says that the people of Atlantis were more advanced than any other civilization of Earth.  According to some accounts they had running water, electricity, and even flying machines.  According to all accounts, they produced beautiful art and architecture and maintained a standard of living unheard of anywhere else in the world.  It is these fantastic accounts that have led to many of the modern tales about the fabled island. 

Review: Letters from Atlantis

Silverberg, Robert. Letters from Atlantis. New York: Macmillan, 1990.

            Robert Silverberg is a five-time winner of the Nebula award and a three-time winner of the Hugo award.  In Letters From Atlantis he demonstrates his talent for transporting readers into another place and accomplishing a satisfying plot twist at the end of the story. 

            Letters is the story of one Athilantan prince (we have gotten the name of their island slightly wrong) as told via the letters of Roy, a modern time traveler.  Roy is writing his letters to is girlfriend, Lora, who, as a fellow time traveler, has been transported into another region of the earth during the same time period.  The first twist–they have not physically time traveled.  Their bodies remain in a laboratory in Home Year.  Only their minds have leapt into the past and entered the mind of a single person of that time period.  They can sort through their hosts’ memories and learn from their past experiences.  As they sleep they can have them perform functions, such as writing letters.  They can control the mind of their hosts enough to influence conscious decisions, for example, “put this letter in the mail bag.”  Now, do not confuse this with complete possession of the mind or spirit.  Roy seeks to remain hidden in his host’s mind and his host does not lose his autonomy or decision making skills.  In most instances, the hosts never even know they are being used in such a way.

            Roy’s trip into the kingdom we know as Atlantis is accomplished through the mind of his host, Prince Ram, heir to the throne.  Through his mind, Roy sees and experiences all the wonders of Athilan (we might as well use its proper name).  For the most part, his descriptions of the kingdom follow Plato’s, a deliberate attempt to prove the accuracy of the account which Roy alludes to in one of his letters.  Roy is rather taken with his host and the refinement and nobility which he sees in him and in his family.  Roy is lucky enough to have been launched into Prince Ram’s mind during the time when he is being prepared for the second of three ceremonies which lead to his coronation as king. 

            Roy encounters difficulties when it becomes clear that the Prince is aware of Roy’s presence in his mind.  Far from being alarmed, the Prince is intrigued and soon the two conduct a rather constant internal dialogue (all of this is strictly forbidden by time-traveler etiquette, by the way).  The Prince thinks of Roy as a wizard and does everything he can to teach Roy the history of his people.  In return, Roy tells him of modern times.  The Prince is very accepting of all he hears, but is very frightened by the concept of democracy.

            The only problem that Roy has with his seemingly enlightened hosts is that they continually refer to non-Athilans as “dirt people.”  And seem to think of them as vastly inferior to themselves.  Some are kept as slaves, and though they are treated kindly, Roy cannot understand such an unenlightened attitude.  The Athilans go as far as to say that the dirt people aren’t human!

            After a disturbing ceremony where Prince Ram receives the collective memories of all the kings before him, he also learns of his peoples’ future destruction.  Roy confirms that Athilan will be wiped from the earth and urges him to evacuate his people and save the kingdom.  Prince Ram refuses and says that it is not for him to decide his people’s fate.  It is also during this vision that Prince Ram and Roy learn of the Athilans distant past and the time when they were forced to flee their first home in a fleet of ships sailing across a vast sea of STARS! 

            I must admit that I didn’t see the end coming and really I didn’t have much trouble getting through the book.  The descriptions of Athilan, its buildings, customs, and people really brought the legend to life.  The device of time travel was not problematic for me because there was little effort to explain the details involved in the process.  The introduction of the idea of the inhabitants as a refugee alien race helps solve the mystery of the advanced technologies attributed to Atlantis.  All in all, this was an enjoyable, fanciful rendering of a timeless legend.

 

Review: Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Atlantis: The Lost Empire Producer Don Hahn. Disney, 2001.

            In this typically charming Disney animated film, we meet Milo Thatch, a young, awkward historian who is obsessed with following in his late grandfather’s footsteps in the search for Atlantis.  Unexpectedly, an old, wealthy friend of his grandfather, outfits an incredible submarine, Ulysses, and sends him on his way to discover the lost city and its mysterious power source.  His accompanying crew are a varied bunch, but as they fight past a giant leviathan guarding the path to Atlantis and escape other perils, they come to respect one another and work together. 

            Soon they find the legendary city and are surprised to find it occupied with a beautiful, but dying race.  Milo falls in love with the Atlantean princess, but just as they are about to discover the source of the Atlantean’s power and restore their vitality, some of Milo’s fellow explorers reveal themselves to be mere mercenaries.  They kill the king and attempt to abscond with the valuable power source without which all the remaining inhabitants will die.  Milo must lead those left on his side in a race against time to restore the former grandeur of the kingdom.  After, several very well-done scenes (it is amazing how well animation can reproduce lighting effects), Milo is victorious.  He bids a fond farewell as his companions head back home as he stands on the shoreline of Atlantis with his Princess.

            In my opinion, this was a great retelling of the Atlantean legend.  It is appealing to both children and adults and serves to both entertain and inform.  It seems as though the story of Atlantis was meant to be told in animation.  Though I did not get to view it there is also a sequel out to this movie, and based on my favorable opinion of this one, I plan to watch it whenever I get the chance.

Review: www.atlantissource.com

            This website opens with the banner, Atlantis - above the waves; traditions, theories, evidence, and facts.  It proceeds in a very logical manner to provide all of the above, and more.  There are six informational pages on the site plus the “Contact us” page.  They are as follows”

Plato- This page provides a concise, readable summary of Plato’s original legend.

Traditions- This page quotes heavily from books on the history of Atlantis and provide numerous links and references to further resources.  You could spend a lot of time digesting all the information contained on this page and its various links.

Recent Discoveries- I found this page very interesting.  It told among other things of a 2001 discovery of a submerged city off India where human bones have been carbon dated to 9,500 years ago.  It also mentioned the 2000 discovery of a sunken city off Cuba which figures largely in some Atlantis theories.

Modern Science- This page is basically a crash course in the way science works and doesn’t work in relation to the study of Atlantis.

Occultists- This page focuses on the work of two mystics Helena Blavatsky and Edagr Cayce, who through their psychic connections have made various, confirmed predictions about the location of Atlantis.  Blayatsky claims that Plato was a fellow mystic of her order.  The web site suggests that given their accuracy in the past, these theories should be considered.

Conclusion- Here you find the normal wrap-up and then a little bit of a decent into creepy world with talk of DNA and blood type and Atlantis among us.

            All in all, this website provides a decent glance at the basics of Atlantean theory, but it doesn’t even try to pretend to present an objective view and so it should be read for amusement and supplement, not primary information about the legend of Atlantis.

 

Review: http://www.atlantis.com/atlantis_layers1024.asp

            This page is a part of the website for the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas.  It is a fun look at what an archeological dig of Atlantis might be like.  By following the tunnel and clicking on various locations you see one interpretation of what the ancient city might have been like.  You get to see a religious shrine, a stone engraved with the Atlantean language, a stone cutting room where laser-like devices were used, storage vessels now inhabited by eels (real ones!), a ceremonial room decorated with sculpture, a diving bell and scuba suits, and a navigational guide.  The website is fun and even a little informative.  I included it here mainly because I have been to the resort and walked through “the Dig” which they did a very good job of creating.    

 

            Well, my little exploration now finds me conveniently back at the Bahamian resort where we started.  What has my journey taught me?  First of all, I am torn between being amazed of what we can do underwater now and being astounded that a science that was begun over 2500 years ago has not advanced any further.  Somehow it seems that we’ve accomplished so much more in space travel in a much shorter time period.  Nonetheless, the technological advances are interesting in and of themselves.  I think that because the technology of ocean exploration has advanced rather slowly over time it is apparent that every invention builds on the one before it.  Prior to starting this research, I thought that Jacques Cousteau invented scuba–period.  I’m not sure what I thought existed before hand, but I certainly didn’t know that divers were already carrying tanks of air on their backs, occasionally independent of their surface support.  This is not to detract from Cousteau at all.  He was, by all accounts, the giant in the field that I thought him to be, but I found that he worked in a land of giants.  The explorers in this field are fascinating to me as all explorers are.  They have that internal drive that keeps them exploring the nether regions of the globe when their contemporaries are playing bridge in Florida.  Furthermore, these explorers have mastered the art of the written word and know the importance of sharing their vision with those of us too chicken to experience it for ourselves.

            I feel that I was only able to scratch the surface with this research.  I could easily take each of the three explorers briefly highlighted here and do at least as much on their individual works.  In addition, there is a surprising wealth of fiction written about ocean exploration that I simply could not read in this limited setting.  I’d like to get my hands on the Le Guin novella The New Atlantis, since she seems to be so respected.  Finally, I could easily delve into the theories and discoveries regarding the discovery of Atlantis.

            So, have I booked a snorkeling trip for this summer?  No, the thought still gives me a bit of a tight feeling in my chest and makes my toes curl.  I do, however, understand the lure and the beauty that the brave of heart find in those deep, blue waters and I hope that they continue on their explorations so I can admire their photos in my coffee table book and travel to Galveston for an 3D IMAX and live vicariously through them.

 

Works Cited (non-reviewed sources)

Braymer, Marjorie. Atlantis: The Biography of a Legend. New York: Atheneum, 1983.

Earle, Sylvia A. and Al Giddings. Exploring the Deep Frontier. Washington D.C.: National Geographic, 1980.

Harris, Capt. Brayton. “World Submarine History Timeline.” 5 May 2004, <http://www.

            submarine-history.com/NOVAone.htm>.

Kovacs, Deborah. Dive to the Ocean Deep. Austin, TX: Steck-Vaugn, 2000.

Martin, Dr. Lawrence. “A Brief History of Scuba Diving, From Antiquity to the Present.” 5            May 2004 <http://www.mtsinai.org/pulmonary/ books/scuba/sectiona.htm>