and space. Some automatic method of fishing a sinuous path in a 

 vertical plane, on the order of 300 feet from the ocean surface to 

 the deepest part of the trajectory, is needed. More thought needs 

 to be given also to methods of recording temperature, depth, and 

 amounts of water strained by plankton samplers. 



Solution of some of these problems of scientific plankton study 

 may have commercial applications, too. Plankton is much more 

 abundant in total mass of protein than the larger marine organisms. 

 Hence, some people have suggested that plankton is the most effect- 

 ive source of food from the sea. The slow rate of harvesting by 

 conventional methods, caused by the need to handle large quanti- 

 ties of water, has prevented development of a practical method. 

 If this instrumentation problem can be solved, fish factories 

 may become a thing of the past. 



215 



