Captain Scott at the South Pole Fry's Cocoa & Chocolate Hauling up the water bottle In order to study the variation of marine life, samples of water from different depths are examined under the microscope. In this picture we see the biologists lowering a patent bottle down through a hole in the ice. A tripod has been erected over the hole and the bottle, & c, is lowered by means of a wire leading from a drum over a pulley. A meter on the drum shows the depth reached. When low enough a weight is sent down which seals the bottle.