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Sediment scooper

The Van Veen grab collects sediment from the ocean floor. The instrument is lowered on a cable until it hits the bottom. When it closes, it scoops up sediment — and animals living in the sediment —between its two halves. During this April/May 2009 cruise in the Bering Sea, researchers were studying how climate change is affecting the Arctic Ocean ecosystem. 
(Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)