The Van Veen grab

The Van Veen grab is used to take sediment samples from the sea floor. The grab is lowered to the sea bed on a steel cable with its "jaws" open. As soon as the dishes touch the bottom, the valve keeping them open is released. As the grab is pulled back up the jaws close, scooping up sand or sediment from the seabed. The grab is opened over a sloping table on the ship and the contents are collected in a sealable plastic bucket or a plastic bag (if the sample has to be deep frozen) or sub-samples are taken, for instance to study meio- and macrobenthic communities.

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