314 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 194 7 



This apparatus opens up new fields of investigation in the study of 

 aquatic animals in their natural habitats. Scientists and laymen who 

 wish to study animal behavior will be able to do so now without the 

 dangers of deep-water diving. The applications of underwater tele- 

 vision to biological research is of the same magnitude of importance 

 as the discovery and first use of the microscope. 



BIKINI'S BIOLOGY, PAST AND FUTURE 



Bikini's ecology was disturbed, not only through the atom bomb ex- 

 plosions, but by the presence during the Crossroads Operation of a 

 great armada of ships, with about 45,000 men, dumping garbage and 

 debris into the lagoon waters. This, together with the blasting of 

 coral heads in preparation for the great anchorage, made the water 

 turbid and increased the sedimentation in certain areas. During 

 March and April 1946, corals could be seen at a depth of 120 feet at 

 midday, but during July of both 1946 and 1947 coral heads were 

 scarcely visible at depths of 35 feet off Bikini Island. These changes 

 appear to have been confined to the eastern and northern reefs off 

 Bikini Island in the lagoon, whereas the southern and western reefs 

 showed little change. The water there was as clear as in the early 

 part of 1946. 



Open ocean waters are relatively barren. Organic matter and dis- 

 solved nutriments in the sea are very slight. An atoll, however, is a 

 very rich area of living plants and organisms. It is an oasis in an 

 aquatic desert. Its reefs support luxuriant growths of algae, coral, 

 and vast numbers of animals. This richness results from the conser- 

 vation of organic matter by the living forms. 



Organic matter is not lost in the complicated food chains of the 

 living organisms. They may die in the lagoon waters, but are imme- 

 diately devoured by the scavengers — crabs, lobsters, shellfish, fishes, 

 worms, coelenterates, and echinoderms — which in turn are eaten by 

 predaceous animals. Plant life is consumed by the vegetable-eating 

 fishes and other creatures. Coral polyps are fed upon by certain file 

 fishes, whereas parrot fishes scrape algae off the corals. Even through 

 the death of a 10-ton shark or manta ray, the organic matter is not 

 lost. It appears in the form of tiny organisms such as bacteria, worms, 

 and crustaceans. These in turn form the plankton — the chief food of 

 numerous fishes. Thus the atoll becomes a great storehouse or reser- 

 voir of living organisms competing for every bit of nourishment. 



The aquatic plants extract carbon dioxide from the sea water. Both 

 plants and animals deposit calcium carbonate in building their cal- 

 careous skeletons, which remain after death. The organic matter is 

 re-used by the living, and the skeletons of the dead remain to build 



