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fans, because they are always waving and curling, but the funny part of
it is they are not plants at all." (2) (3)

"Then what in the world are they?" asked Peggy Ann.

"Well, they are colonies or families of small animals. They grow
on solid coral and this makes them look like plants. Most everything
down there in the ocean is an animal of some kind." (2) (3)

"It still seems strange," said Peggy Ann, "that I can look right
down into the blue water so that it is almost like being on land and
looking up at the sky. Look over there! Isn't that more coral? Captain,
will you please tell me something about coral?"

"To begin with," said the Captain, "there are many different
kinds of coral, in all sorts of fantastic shapes and sizes. Right there is a
piece of brain coral, shaped in little scrolls like a man's brain is supposed
to be. Now that delicate looking coral, white and finely patterned, is
lace coral. This coral hangs like the softest knitted lace on the plants on
the bottom of the ocean. Some corals are formed like the propeller of a
boat; others like a giant's tooth, and over there are corals that look
exactly like roses. Those are called flowers of stone. Perhaps the king of
all corals, though, is the kind that grows like trees on land, with tall
branches reaching in every direction. (2) (4) (6)