The two Bureau staff members, Reginald M. Gooding, 

 fishery biologist, and Ollie Custer, physical science techni- 

 cian, flew to Wake on September 13 and made several 

 surveys of the beaches and the waters just offshore. Both 

 are skilled divers. 



The jet fuel mixed with the water and gave it a straw 

 color. Diving near the tanker, Gooding and Custer found 

 that contaminated water irritated their skin. They ob- 

 served schools of fish swimming normally in it, apparently 

 unharmed. 



According to Gooding and Custer, damage to the marine 

 life of the atoll was confined to the boat harbor and to a 

 narrow strip of water along about 2 miles of beach. They 

 estimated that perhaps 3 tons or more fish and other ani- 

 mals washed up on the beach, killed by the deadly seepage 



(fig. 21). Over 90 percent of these consisted of typical 

 fishes of tropical reefs, such as parrotfish, squirrelfish, 

 and grouper. 



On September 17, the 140-mile-an-hour winds of typhoon 

 Sarah struck Wake, causing great damage to buildings and 

 other structures. It blew away all the oil, however, and 

 even partially scoured the oil fouled rocky banks of the 

 boat harbor. After the typhoon, the water had returned 

 to its usually clear turquoise color. 



Several circumstances combined to keep the fish kill 

 at a minimum, Gooding says. The two most important of 

 these were (1) the cargo was not primarily bunker oil 

 and (2) the coastal terrain was such that much of the 

 fuel accumulated in a small-boat harbor and none was able 

 to enter the shallow lagoon. 



INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES 



The Hawaii Area, BCF, because of its scientific interests, 

 because of the presence on its staff of recognized author- 

 ities in fisheries research, and, to some degree, because of 

 its geographic location, is deeply involved in international 

 activities. Some of these are described here. 



At the request of the Department of State, John C. 

 Marr, Hawaii Area Director, has served for several years 

 as U.S. delegate on the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council, 

 the oldest of the regional councils sponsored by FAO (Food 

 and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) ; 

 he is currently serving as Vice-Chairman ; in 1966, the 

 Hawaii Area played host to the 12th Session of the 

 Council. The Director, Hawaii Area, serves as a member 

 of the Fisheries Advisory Committee of the South Pacific 

 Commission. 



In May 1968, at the invitation of the U.S. Civil Adminis- 

 tration of the Ryukyu Lslands and the Government of the 

 Ryukyu Islands, three members of the Hawaii Area staff 

 conducted a fisheries workshop in the Ryukyus. 



At the request of the Department of State, the Director, 

 Hawaii Area, serves as U.S. National Coordinator for CSK 

 (the Cooperative Study of the Kuroshio and Adjacent 

 Regions) ; by election among the National Coordinators, 

 he also serves as Assistant International Coordinator for 

 Fisheries; in April-May 1968, he served as Convenor of 

 a Symposium on the Results of the CSK, which was held 

 in Hawaii, and participated in the subsequent Fifth Meet- 

 ing of the International Coordinating Group. The Kuro- 

 shio (literally, "Black Stream") is a warm oceanic current 

 of variable width, depth, and intensity that sweeps from 



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