Re: There is a reason ...
Assuming the diagram and article are correct, the packets would be carried on the inter-node supervisory wavelength - which is terminated at the end of each fibre span, processed by the node's controller card, and then a new supervisory signal generated for transmission on the next span.
The TTL would be set anew each time they left a node as it is a new packet being sent, not the received packet being merely repeated in the way a router might do.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
