Basket of 8000 feet of coiled line. On the top of the basket are floats that will bring the line to the surface after the basket is on the bottom. The torpedo-like contraption on the front is an acoustic release that frees the floats from the basket. The ship sends an acoustic signal down to the mechanism, telling it to release. Vancouver Island is in the background.

Credit: © 1998 Margaret Carruthers, American Museum of Natural History