320' 



140° 



230° 



Off the island of Hawaii, Laboratory scientists have 

 found counterclockwise eddies several times. They are 

 much larger than off Johnston Island, and more persistent 

 (fiK. 20). 



E-xplanation of the wake phenomenon might exjilain 

 many heretofore puzzling observations. Practically, it could 

 allow fishery scientists to pinpoint areas in which concen- 

 trations of valuable fishes might reasonably be found. 



FIGURE 19. Off tiny Johnston Island, 820 miles southwest of Hono- 

 lulu, oceonogrophers from the Laboratory found a woke set up on the 

 downstream side of the island. Remarkably regular in pottern, a series 

 of eddies wos found in the lee of the island, rotating clockwise and 

 counterclockwise olternotely, and moving downstream. Compass di- 

 rections ore given. 



THE MENACE OF OIL SPILLAGE 



Wake Island, a tiny atoll halfway between Hawaii and 

 (luani, is a refueling point on some Honolulu-Tokyo flights. 

 In Seiitenil)er 1067 it was the site of two disasters, one of 

 which essentially cancelled the effects of the other. 



Karly in the month, the 18,000-ton tanker, R. C. Stoner, 

 which was loaded with ,iet fuel, aviation gas, and a small 

 amount of bunker oil, ran aground on the reef about 600 



feet outside the entrance to the boat harbor at Wake. As 

 her cargo leaked out, it spread over the small harbor and 

 washed ashore on the ad.iaccnt beaches. Damage to marine 

 life was fortunately very slight. Two Bureau staff mem- 

 bers were .sent to Wake to assess possible damage and to 

 gain experience which would be useful in case a similar 

 disaster occurred elsewhere in the Hawaii Area. 



29 



