There's something which makes me suspicious about this story. Why would the NSA splice into fiber at the bottom of the ocean? Fibers at the bottom of the ocean

There's something which makes me suspicious about this story. Why would the NSA splice into fiber at the bottom of the ocean? Fibers at the bottom of the ocean have two endpoints, both of which are on or near land. Why bother with all the complications of splicing into a line at the bottom of the ocean when you can splice in on land? Further, there are a ton of options for collecting data from a fiber connection at the endpoints that don't involve splicing the fibers at all. There's no reason to cut a fiber when you can detach the end and attach something between the end and the connector. Another possibility is a "software tap" where they could install packet sniffers in the relay firmware. I'm not trying to say that I know how the NSA tap technology works, and I certainly can't rule out using a submarine to splice into wires at the bottom of the ocean, but I'm pretty sure there are smarter ways to achieve the desired result.