08 September 2016

Roman "livewell"

In an era long before refrigeration, wealthy Romans built holding tanks beside their coastal villas so they could eat fresh fish whenever they wished. Sluice gates positioned with their tops eight inches above the high-water mark let seawater in and out, flushing the tanks with the natural ebb and flow of the tides. To work, they had to be built at a precise level relative to high tide.
"Livewell" is a modern term for the tank on fishing boats designed to keep fish alive until the crew returns to shore.  Very clever, those Romans.

3 comments:

  1. Reminds me of Saltwater Tidal Swimming pools. The first time I saw them was in Australia

    Examples here: http://travel.cnn.com/sydney/visit/salt-water-baths-sydney-706161

    ReplyDelete
  2. The feared "rising oceans" don't seem to have had too much of an effect over the past 2000 years or so.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's because they haven't been rising for 2000 years, only about 100.

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