26 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



The greatest obstacle to the oceanographic work of the vessel has 

 been the impossibility up to the present time of maintaining an 

 adequate supply of dependable reversing thermometers for taking 

 temperatures at varying depths. No American manufacturer is yet 

 in position to furnish thermometers that meet the precise require- 

 ments for deep-sea work, and it is only after considerable delay that 

 a limited number of satisfactory instruments have been obtained in 

 London and Copenhagen. 



The operations of the Albatross during the fiscal year covered two 

 principal cruises. The first, beginning off Cape Henry at the close of 

 October, 1919, extended as far as the Yucatan Channel in the south. 

 The investigations aboard the vessel were directed by Mr. W. W. 

 Welsh, scientific assistant. Biological and physical oceanographic 

 stations were occupied on four sections across the Gulf Stream between 

 Cape Henry and Key West ; across Florida Strait, between Key West 

 and Habana ; from Habana to Cape San Antonio, at the western end 

 of Cuba ; across the Yucatan Channel to Cape Catoche ; and from Cape 

 Catoche to Dry Tortugas. Considering that the ship had been but 

 recently placed in commission in the Fisheries Service, after having 

 done duty in the Navy for two years, that much of her gear was new, 

 and that practically her entire personnel was inexperienced in work 

 of this character, her performance was regarded as satisfactory. 

 The work is intended as a contribution to a scientific basis for fishery 

 investigations by the ship during the next two years. 



On February 18, after having undergone repairs at Baltimore, the 

 Albatross sailed from Norfolk for Boston, to make headquarters for 

 fishery and oceanographic investigations in the Gulf of Maine. On 

 the trip to Boston she made three hauls with a 60- foot otter trawl 

 in the vicinity of the 100-fathom curve, with the purpose of deter- 

 mining the occurrence of tilefish and other ground fish off the middle 

 Atlantic coast. The results were negative. She also occupied a series 

 of hydrographic stations on a line across Georges Bank. The vessel 

 was engaged in the investigation of the Gulf of Maine until the latter 

 part of April, after which she prosecuted a search for spawning had- 

 dock in Massachusetts Bay and returned to Baltimore to lay up for 

 necessary repairs. This work was in continuation of investigations 

 begun in the same waters by the Grampus in 1912, and is under the 

 direction of Dr. H. B. Bigelow, of the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology, Cambridge. 



The hydrographic and dredging records obtained on those cruises 

 with all previous unpublished records of the vessel have been pre- 

 pared for printing and will appear at an early time. The recent 

 work of the Albatross in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico has 

 been guided by the deputy commissioner, Dr. H. F, Moore, who will 

 be able to coordinate many of the activities of this vessel with the 

 observational work done under the International Ice Patrol Board, 

 of which he is a member. Prior to the fall of 1919 the Albatross 

 had not worked in the Atlantic since 1887. 



SURVEY IN CHESAPEAKE BAT. 



The biological and physical examination of the Chesapeake Bay, 

 begun some years ago and interrupted by the conditions of war, has 

 been resumed under the immediate supervision of Dr. K. P. Cowles 



