may prove of considerable value in demonstrating that Hawaii is the 

 most suitable area for more detailed studies of the role of the snapping 

 shrimp in the production of underwater noise in the sea (Johnson, 

 et al, 1947). 



Many fishing-vessels in Hawaii are installing recording fathometers 

 for spotting schools of fish at various levels above the bottom. 

 Phenomenal catches have been made using this instrument as a seeker. 

 The sonic research vessel of the Hawaiian Tuna Packers is being 

 equipped with modern devices to analyse schools of .fish horizontally 

 and vertically by echo sounding, and should experiments prove the 

 practicability of speciating tuna by skin friction noises and herding them 

 by sonic beams, a new era in catch methods will be ushered in. 



The extensive programme of the Pacific Oceanic Fishery Investigation 

 will include a considerable amount of fundamental as well as applied 

 physical and biological oceanography. 



The staff of the U.S. Weather Bureau in Honolulu lias been active 

 in devising means of forecasting swell and wave heights by analysing 

 daily weather maps. Thus far they have been highly successful, and 

 on several occasions warnings have been broadcast to operators of 

 small craft and to occupants of homes near the tide line of impending 

 danger to equipment in time to effect measures for safety. 



Bibliographic ^ Analyses of Oceanography in the Pacific. — Of con- 

 siderable importance in establishing and assessing research programmes 

 on 'oceanography in the Pacific is the exhaustive analysis of literature 

 and unpublished documents on Pacific oceanic biology which is being 

 carried out under Navy contract at the Woods Hole Oceanographic 

 Institution. When the project is completed a firm basis for planning 

 future investigations will be available. 



Several members of the staff of the University of Hawaii are engaged 

 in translating from the Japanese Utinomi's BiMiographica Micronesica 

 (1944). Sections dealing with invertebrate zoology, oceanography, and 

 limnology are nearing completion. The chordate section including that 

 on fish has been completed and published b}^ Fisher (1947). The 

 translated bibliography is expected to be published by the Uni^'ersity 

 of Hawaii Press. 



Hawaii as a Locale for Investigations in Tropical Oceanography 



Space will not permit me to annotate as fully as I would wish some 

 of the more fundamental problems which, when solved, will enable us 

 to understand the tropical seas as well as we do our temperate waters. 

 With respect to the general biological economy of tropical and sub- 

 tropical seas we must study (1) the quantities, rate of growth, and food 

 complexes of the organisms present, (2) the role of bacteria in various 

 locations in the warm sea, (3) the tropical and subtropical plankton 

 compared with temperate plankton in regard to organic content, metabolic 

 rate, seasonal fluctuation in abundance and position bathymetrically, 

 and its efficienc}^ factor in foodchains. 



Many vexing problems in the distribution of the Indo-Pacific fauna 

 eastward will not be solved until we learn more about the ecology of the 

 larval phases of littoral species, the span of their larval existence, and 

 the ocean current system responsible for their transportation. I need 

 not point out the great need of taxonomic studies on the marine fauna 

 and flora of central Pacific areas. 



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