Motography (Apr-Dec 1911)

274 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. VI, No. 6. Filming the Bottom of the Sea By Harvey Walstrom ON December 14, the American Film Manufacturing Company will release a film which is in many respects remarkable, since it is the result of the only successful attempt ever made to photograph the submarine gardens of the Pacific. As is well known, the water surrounding the Catalina Islands, which are just off the California coast near Los Angeles, is perhaps the clearest ocean water in the world. For this reason, and because of the rugged beauty of the islands themselves, the Catalinas are a favorite resort for tourists, and no one really feels that he has seen the West until he has gathered moonstones on their shores and peered down into the clear water at the wonderful growth on the bottom of the sea. To assist tourists in viewing these marine gardens, glass-bottomed boats have been constructed, and as the boat moves along, the whole bed of the ocean seems to pass beneath in an ever changing panorama, revealing the strange forms of plant and animal life that exist there. Queer fish are seen, peculiar animals pass by, and occasionally an octopus appears, scurrying away as the shadow of the boat overhead frightens him. Samuel S. Hutchinson, president of the American Company, recently visited these picturesque islands, and gazed, with other tourists, at the wonderful marine gardens. He marveled at the things he saw there and, like a true film man, wanted to take a moving picture of it. His idea met with little encouragement, for taking pictures through fifteen or twenty feet of water and with very little light is not an easy task. In fact, very few pictures of any kind have ever been taken of these gardens, and even those few reveal very little of the wonderful life beneath. But he persisted, chartered a glass bottomed boat, and started out with his party. The resulting film shows very clearly the seaweed and other forms of submarine vegetation, coral, sea urchins, and many varieties of fish. By rare good fortune an octopus managed to get into the picture, the body and tentacles being distinctly visible. Another piece of good fortune came their way when they approached a rock with nearly a hundred seals basking themselves upon it. Ordinarily a seal is timid, and takes to the water when a boat comes at all near. Most of these did, but some few boldly held their position and watched the boat as it came to within a few feet of them and then backed It Has a Rugged Beauty of Its Own. away. This seal view is really marvelous. The party then pushed on toward the large island whose grandeur of scenery is so far-famed. It is very rugged, and yet it has scenic beauties all its own which cannot be compared with those of any other part of the world. The film shows its mountainous splendor, its low valleys, and the famous "moonstone beach," dotted with touristsbusily engaged in hunting for the little white pebbles which the clear water of the ocean tosses up. On the same reel is shown some excellent views of the Pacific fleet in San Diego Bay. First is shown the cruiser Raleigh, which fired the first shot at Manilla when Commodore Dewey took matters into his own hands and pushed into the bay. Then appears the Colorado, the California, the South Dakota, the little gunboat Vicksburg which did such effective work at the blockade of Havana. The Oregon then appears, the big battleship which "Fighting Bob" Evans took around the Horn without a single stop for repairs. The cruiser Cincinnati is shown with the mast which it lost in the Spanish-American War still missing. The transport Buffalo, the Iroquois, used for target practice, the supply boat Glacier, and finally the entire torpedo fleet is shown leaving .the harbor. Battleship views are always interesting and these are especially good. Commenting on the pictures taken, of the marine gardens, the Los Angeles Times, under date of October 21, says: "S. S. Hutchinson, of Chicago, while in a glassbottomed boat was successful in taking pictures of over fifty feet of film while the boat passed over the marine gardens. Although many attempts have been made by local photographers and others possessing extensive experience, no one has ever before taken pictures of the marine growth under the water. The feat had been given up as an impossibility. "When nearing a suitable portion of the gardens under water fifteen feet, the machine was set to work. The camera resembled an ordinary instrument, but had several attachments on both sides, small magnifying glasses and mirrors set at various angles near the lenses. An octopus was caught and is clearly shown in the film." , A movement is on foot to have the film shown in the public schools of California, owing to its educational value.