The Blake dredge has a ten-foot iron bar across the top, a handle
arrangement and a long twenty-foot net at the bottom, in which things
are thrown after being loosened by the top bar. The bottom of the net
is fastened so that specimens cannot be dropped out.
This is put way down till it is on the ocean bottom, and then trawled
along slowly for an hour or more. Sometimes the whole dredge is lost
when it hits an unexpected mountain peak or rock or ledge at the
bottom, as it was at Abingdon Island, and once the whole thing was
terribly twisted and bent out of shape because of hitting something way
down in the depths.
It is dragged along, the top iron bar loosening things from the floor
of the sea, dumping them into the net, and then brought to the surface.
The things brought up are always very cold, often just above freezing
because it is so cold down there. One day a whole bucket load of sea
cucumbers came up in the net and they were icy cold as if they had been
in an icebox.
Sometimes there are fish, pieces of coral, bits of rock, legs or even a
whole starfish, many sea cucumbers and once or twice a strange fish
with curious contraptions for lighting his way around, a long tentacle
or barbel out in front of him with a light on it, or a bulb on top of
his head on a curious trailer thing out in front of his mouth so other
fish will be decoyed in front of him and he then swallows them.
When the dredge is coming in we stand around to see what it brings up.
For two hours the cable will be coming in and winding up on the huge
drum by machinery, then at last the net shows under the water. Everyone
hurries to the side and holds dishes or buckets or tubs of water into
which to dump specimens.
And the crew help, one at the engine, one oiling wire as it winds on
the drum, and two or three of us beating the cable with heavy clubs to
shake off the water as much as possible to keep it from rusting.
Many of the deep sea things are very bright red. The shrimps, the
starfish and the cucumbers are different colors, reddish, yellowish
white, purple, and even a bright bluish one came up.