A lead weight attached to a line marked in 6-foot lengths (or
fathoms) was used to "sound the bottom." By pressing tallow into
the weight, skippers could tell whether the sea floor was rocky,
sandy, or shelly. Some claimed they could even taste and smell
flounders nearby.
National Museum of American History
Ocean Planet Exhibition Floorplan
gene carl feldman (gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (301) 286-9428 Judith Gradwohl, Smithsonian Institution (Curator/Ocean Planet)