Throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, most naturalists mistakenly believed that no life could survive in the deep sea. A. Edward Forbes developed the view, based on research in the Aegean, that both the number and variety of life-forms decline with ocean depth and disappear entirely below 1,800 feet. B. Forbes carried out his research using a small dredge that was invented during the time that he spent working on the HMS Beacon, conducting a survey of the Aegean for the English Royal Navy. C. Before Forbes conducted his research in the Aegean, most naturalists believed that the deep sea was filled with a pool of cold, dense water that had gradually sunk to the depths from above. D. Forbes's data was misleading because it was limited to the Aegean, where animal diversity at depths is unusually low, and because his collecting tool was unable to capture much animal life that did exist. E. The existence of an azoic zone in the Atlantic Ocean had earlier been established by Sir John Ross, who used a scoop to sample sediment located thousands of feet deep in Baffin Bay. F. Life-forms collected in Baffin Bay at depths far greater than 1,800 feet provided evidence as early as 1818 that the azoic zone later proposed by Forbes did not exist.