FIGURE 23. Eleven notions hare joined in the study of the Kuroshio 

 and adjacent regions, which hove been defined, as shown here, as 

 extending from long. 160° E. to the Asian Continent, ond from New 

 Guineo to northern Jopon. Included in the area is the Trust Terri- 

 tory of the Pacific Islands, which the United States administers. 



tion reaches from long. 160° E. (a few hundred miles from 

 Wake Island) to the shores of Asia, and from Hokkaido 

 in the north to New Guinea in the south (fig. 23). It thus 

 embraces about 6 million square miles, or an area two- 

 thirds the size of the North American Continent. 



Field work under CSK began in 1965. By 1968, a total 

 of 98 oceanographic cruises had been completed. At times 

 as many as 19 vessels of several nations were working 

 simultaneously in the region and under a coordinated plan 

 of operation — probably something of a record in the his- 

 tory of oceanography. An oceanographic data center had 

 been established in Japan and a plankton sorting center in 

 Singapore. These centers process data from the cruises 

 of the several nations and issue reports synthesizing infor- 

 mation obtained. Several such reports had appeared, and 

 a scant handful of analytical papers had been published 

 in the scientific journals, but until May 1968 in Hawaii, 

 there had been no opportunity for general review of the 

 scientific results of this massive oceanographic enterprise. 



That opportunity came at the Symposium on the results 

 of the CSK, held at the East-West Center, University of 

 Hawaii, April 29 to May 2, 1968. The symposium was at- 

 tended by representatives of all the CSK nations except 

 Indonesia and Viet Nam. There were 14 participants from 

 the United States, 7 from Japan, 5 from China, 4 from 

 Thailand, 3 each from Hong Kong, Korea, and the U.S.S.R., 

 2 from Singapore, and 1 from the Philippines; observers 

 attended from UNESCO, FAO, the World Meteorological 

 Organization, the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council, and the 

 Pacific Science Association. 



Immediately after the Symposium, on May 3 and 4, 

 the International Coordinating Group held its fifth meet- 

 ing, at which National Coordinators reviewed the findings 

 of the Symposium and charted the future course of CSK. 



34 



