The British ship Challenger is considered the first vessel used specifically for oceanographic surveys. It sailed and studied the world’s oceans from 1872 to 1876, visiting New Zealand waters in 1874. This illustration shows the equipment for sounding (measuring water depths) and dredging (collecting samples from the sea floor), which were state-of-the-art at the time.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
National Geophysical Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA Photo Library ship collection
Reference: C. W. Thomson, The voyage of the 'Challenger': the Atlantic. Vol 1. London: Macmillan, 1878, p. 65
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