Foreword 



"Preserve the ocean environment by accelerating scientific observations of the 

 natural state of the ocean and its interactions with the coastal margin — to provide 

 a basis for (a.) assessing and predicting man-induced and natural modifications of 

 the character of the oceans; (b.) identifying damaging or irreversible effects of 

 waste disposal at sea; and (c.) comprehending the interaction of various levels of 

 marine life to permit steps to prevent depletion or extinction of valuable species as 

 a result of mans activities." 



The above is the first of the six prescribed goals of the National 

 Science Foundation's Office for the International Decade of Ocean Ex- 

 ploration. In pursuit of this goal, IDOE, in 1971, carried out a one- 

 year Baseline Data Acquisition Program and in the following year 

 initiated the Pollutant Transfer Program. The Baseline Program in- 

 dicated the present levels of contamination by trace metals and petro- 

 leum and chlorinated hydrocarbons in water, sediment and biota of 

 the oceans. The Pollutant Transfer Program provides information on 

 the pathways or mechanisms controlling the rate of pollutant transfer 

 from the source to and within the ocean, the information so necessary 

 for predicting the distribution of pollutants, for assessing whether the 

 oceans are becoming measurably polluted, and ultimately for indicat- 

 ing rates at which pollutants may be released safely to the environ- 

 ment. 



The IDOE Effects of Pollutants on Marine Organisms Program is 

 designed to learn whether the levels of pollutants shown to be present 

 in the oceans in the Baseline and Transfer Programs are now having 

 or may in the future have a deleterious effect on life in the sea. Such 

 potential damage is the overriding reason for studies of ocean pollu- 

 tion. 



The goals of the research projects in the Effects of Pollutants on 

 Marine Organisms Program were established as: (1.) to establish the 

 level of pollutant just necessary to cause clear mortality for open ocean 

 and coastal marine organisms; (2.) to determine the sublethal effects 

 of pollutants on organisms; (3.) to learn the mechanism of pollutant 

 effect on specific critical functions; (4.) to identify by careful chem- 

 ical anal3^ses the toxic or damaging chemical species. 



To attain these ends, a broad based program was designed around 

 a matrix consisting of the pollutants of concern (trace metals, chlori- 

 nated hydrocarbons and petroleum and its products) and the various 

 levels of marine organisms from bacteria to fish. The Program design 



