02 February 2012

Oceanographic Museum - the 1901 Trawl


In 1888 Prince Albert I perfected a trihedrical trap which collected deep-sea organisms.

This was followed in 1901 by another biological sampling device, the trawl that you see in this photo. It enabled Prince Albert I to catch the first specimen of Grimaldichthys Profondissimus (a deep sea fish) in the South-West of the Cape Verde Islands, 6035 metres deep. This record remained unbroken for almost 50 years.

5 comments:

  1. Very interesting. Back in the days before submersibles and underwater cameras, this innovation would have been the only way to discover the different life forms in the ocean depths.

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  2. Amazing isn't it? I particularly like the bags with, I'm guessing, weights.

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  3. This is such an interesting museum, fascinating history.

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  4. I have actually used a similar device for crabbing l. Now I know who invented it!

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  5. Always good to have something named after you, you leave a trace...

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