44 ABOUT LOBSTERS 



waves. On top of this, the light weight of a submerged* * 

 pot (only 8 pounds) does not afford much grip to the 

 ocean floor. It is probable that a pot is rolled over and 

 over, perhaps winding the warp around itself, until the 

 buoy is drawn under, but in any case permitting the pot 

 to be slammed against the ledges and broken. Notice 

 here that the round tops of many pots tend to assist this 

 rolling action rather than to oppose it. 



The following changes in the shape of a pot will help to 

 reduce these losses: 



a. Any reduction in the height of a pot from the 

 present 18 inches would reduce the leverage tending to 

 overturn a pot. 



b. The construction of a pot with inclined sides 

 like a pyramid would change the side pressure of a 

 wave from an overturning effect into a force pressing 

 the pot down on the ocean floor. 



This downward pressure exerted on an inclined surface 

 is akin to the side pressure exerted by a wedge. As anyone 

 can recall, the pressure of a wedge in splitting a log is at 

 right angles to the direction in which the wedge is being 

 driven. The flatter the angle of such a pot, the greater it 

 will be forced down against the ocean floor. A 45-degree 

 angle will turn half the side pressure of a wave into a down- 

 ward force, and an even flatter wedge will turn more of the 

 pressure downward. Such a design would utilize the force 

 of ocean currents to anchor a pot rather than to roll it over. 



The steel pot. The steel pot is being fished experi- 

 mentally off Portland. It is a parlor, two-side-entrance pot 

 whose sides and bottom are covered with expanded steel, 

 rather than wood slats. The sides slant upwards like the 

 roof of a house. Expanded steel is the material commonly 

 used today as the foundation for plastering instead of lath- 

 ing. It has diamond-shaped openings. The cut edges of the 

 steel are quite sharp on one side but not on the other. It 

 was found that lobsters would not enter the pot if the side 



