SURROUNDING THE PANAMA CANAL
The
mined.
entrances
The
on
either side of the
61
Panama Canal
are secretly
one of the most carefully
of the American navy and one of the most sought
location of these mines
guarded secrets
after by international
is
spies.
Japanese, who have been fishing along the West Coast and
Panamanian waters for years, are the only fishermen who find it
The
necessary to use sounding lines to catch fish. Sounding lines are
used to measure the depths of the waters and to locate sub
merged ledges and covered rocks in this once mountainous area.
Any fleet which plans to approach the Canal or use harbors
even within several hundred miles north or south of the Canal
must have this information to know just where to go and how
near to shore they can approach before sending out landing
parties.
The
use of sounding lines by Japanese fishermen and the
mys
terious going and comings of their boats became so pronounced
that the Panamanian Government could not ignore them. It
issued a decree prohibiting all aliens
from
fishing in
Panamanian
waters.
In April, 1937, the "Taiyo Maru," flying the American flag
but manned by Japanese, hauled up her anchor in the dead of
night and with all lights out chugged from the unrestricted waters
into the area where the mines are generally believed to be laid.
The "Taiyo" operated out of San Diego, California, and once
established a world s record of being one hundred and eleven
days at sea without catching a single fish. The captain, piloting
the boat from previous general knowledge of the wat W'2&F