Protocol of the First Joint US-USSR 



Central Pacific Ocean Expedition 



on the R/V Akademik Korolev 



In accordance with the memorandum of the 1 1th meeting 

 of the US-USSR Joint Committee on the Environment 

 Protection (Moscow, USSR, February 1988) and the 

 recommendation of the "Soviet-American Conference on the 

 Ecology of the Bering Sea" (Batumi, USSR. March 1988) and 

 the plan of the joint bilateral activity of 02.07-2101. 

 "Comprehensive Analysis of Marine Ecosystems and Ecological 

 Problems of the World Ocean." the Third Joint US-USSR 

 Bering & Chukchi Seas Expedition was held on 26 July 1988 

 on board the Soviet research vessel Akademik Korolev. The 

 second leg of this expedition was conducted from 9 September 

 to 3 1 October in the central Pacific Ocean and South China Sea. 

 The delegation was headed by Prof. Alia V. Tsyban and 

 Dr. Gregory J. Smith. Nearly 10,000 nautical miles of ocean 

 were covered during this leg of the expedition. 



The Soviet delegates were represented by participants in 

 the cruise from the USSR State Committee for 

 Hydrometeorology and Control of Natural Environment; the 

 Academy of Sciences from the USSR; and the Academies of 

 Sciences from Ukraine, Belyorussia, and Estonia. A list of 

 participants is given as Appendix A. 



Six American delegates joined the expedition during the 

 port of call in Hilo, Hawaii, on 9 September 1988 and were 

 represented by participants from the US Fish and Wildlife 

 Service (Department of the Interior), and the University of 

 Washington. A list of participants is given as Appendix A. 



The principal objective of the second leg of the Third Joint 

 US-USSR Expedition was to conduct comprehensive studies 

 of the ecology of the central Pacific Ocean with an emphasis on 

 ecosystem processes and the effects of anthropogenic pollutants 

 on those systems. Included in this research was a complete 

 zoological, chemical, and microbiological assessment of an 

 isolated tropical coral atoll. Caroline Atoll, Kiribati. 

 Hydrological stations were included along the route from 

 Hawaii to Christinas Island, where a port of call was made to 

 bring aboard a wildlife biologist from the government of 

 Kiribati for studies of Caroline Atoll. During the period of 

 22-29 September, extensive studies of this remote atoll's 

 ecology were conducted and an assessment of the atoll's status 

 with respect to environmental contamination was made. A 

 complete survey of the atoll's plant and bird communities was 

 also done. A full ecological station was sampled offshore from 

 the atoll and series of four more stations were included enroute 

 to Ratawa where the Kiribati representative disembarked. 

 After Tarawa, the research vessel proceeded to I IN latitude. 

 Along (he 1 I transect, six ecological stations were studied 

 in the Marianas section. The first station was m more than 

 6.00(1 meters of water, the last station along this transect was 

 near the eastern Philippines, and the Akademik Korolev 



proceeded through the Straits of Mindanao into the Mindanao. 

 Sulu. and South China Seas. This route avoided Typhoon 

 Ruby, which was located in the north Philippines and caused a 

 severe loss of life and property in that area. On 25 October 

 1 988, a three-day anchor station began in the South China Sea 

 at 6°N latitude, three miles west of the 107th parallel. This 

 long-term ecological station was the first in a series of five as 

 the expedition proceeded into Singapore. Arrival at Singapore 

 was on 31 October 1988, completing the second leg of the joint 

 American-Soviet expedition of 1988. The route of the 

 expedition is shown in the Frontispiece. 



The main scientific tasks: 



/. Biological, chemical, and physical fundamental data 

 were collected to provide a comprehensive ecological and 

 oceanographic profile of the central Pacific Ocean and South 

 China Sea. These data provided a basis for comparison with the 

 Bering and Chukchi Seas. 



2. Cooperative studies of the methodology of collection, 

 quantification, and chemical analysis of plastic debris were 

 conducted to assess the overall hazard of plastics to marine life. 



3. The ecological health of a remote coral atoll in the 

 central Pacific was determined. Complete studies of the bird 

 and plant communities were done. Studies of chlorinated 

 hydrocarbons, their concentrations, distribution, and 

 degradation by photolytic and microbiological processes were 

 determined, thereby providing an assessment of the effects of 

 anthropogenic activities. 



In accordance with specialties of the expedition's 

 participants, working groups were organized. At these meetings, 

 work schedules, joint studies, and model experiments were 

 planned. During the expedition, meetings of the Scientific 

 Council Board were also held. Discussed at these meetings 

 were the important scientific findings of the expedition, 

 comparing the Pacific Ocean and the Bering and Chukchi Seas. 

 Also discussed were new areas of investigation that were 

 introduced into the research effort with the new delegation of 

 American scientists on the second leg. These areas 

 included studies of marine plastic pollution, bird ecology, and 

 the collection of biota for radionuclide analysis. 

 Cooperative studies of the degradation and photolytic products 

 of benzo(a)pyrene were expanding during this leg of the 

 expedition. 



Complex ecological studies were undertaken for the first 

 time in the equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean. Unique joint 

 studies thai w ere undertaken to study the ecosystem Of Caroline 

 Atoll, an extremely remote area removed from the main sources 

 of anthropogenic influences, are especially interesting. During 

 the course of the cruise, results of preliminary investigations 

 were obtained. 



VIII 



