The Restless Ocean Floor

The Restless Ocean Floor continued

If the coordinated given by both captains were correct, the mystery island would
have measured 20X30 miles in area. The volcanic activity that brought an island
of this size to the surface would have killed, probably through heating the oceanic
water, an enormous quantity of fish, just as Captain Robson reported.

The miles of dead fish, fanning out from the area first reported by Robson, were
also commented upon by a number of other ship captains and appeared in a varie-
ty of newpapers, including the"New York Times". One captain suggested that the
kill could be explained by the wreck of a fishing vessel, however unlikely this ex-
planation might be.

For, the quantity of dead fish, as estimated by the British institute of Oceanogra-
phy, covered 7,500 square miles of the Atlantic and comprised at least half a
million tons.

Crew members of various vessels that passed through the floating fish identified
them as tilefish, cod, red snapper, shad and many others. Some adventurous
souls among the sailors sampled a number of the fish and suffered no ill effects.
They stated that the fish were "hard and proved excellent food."

One might speculate that these hordes of fish did not immediately rot, since they
had been "pre-cooked" by the volcanic heat generated by the rising of the island
from the ocean floor.