REPORT ON OCEANOGRAPHY 17 



the properties of coastal waters, was undertaken. In 1950 the New Zea- 

 land National Committee on Oceanography was formed as an advisory 

 body to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. It has oper- 

 ated in effecting liaison, sponsoring research projects and in advising 

 the New Zealand government on oceanographic matters. In the field of 

 physical oceanography, arrangements were made for the preparation of 

 a bathymetric chart of adjacent seas, for the collection of continuous 

 echo sounding profiles, particularly on voyages between New Zealand 

 and Australia and outlying islands. Cooperation was given to several 

 extensive expeditions working in the Antarctic and South Pacific areas. 

 Many programs in oceanic biology have been inaugurated by several of 

 the universities. 



PACIFIC OCEAN FISHERIES INVESTIGATION 



An extensive series of investigations is in progress dealing with 

 the physical, chemical, and biological properties of waters of the Cen- 

 tral Equatorial Pacific along with experimental fisheries operations. 

 This is an effort to evaluate the situations in which fish, particularly 

 tuna, are present or absent. They have described the water structure of 

 the north and south equatorial currents, and the counter-currents be- 

 tween them; have found a subsurface counter-current and a mid-ocean 

 region of upwelling with high phosphates and much plankton. On 

 the basis of these encouraging reports their work is being intensified. 

 Much data has been collected in Hawaiian waters but has not yet been 

 analyzed. 



PHILIPPINES 



From 1947 to 1950 oceanographic investigations were made in the 

 Sulu and Celebes Seas by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the United 

 States under the Philippine Fishery Program. During that period 526 

 hydrographic stations were occupied. Observations made at each station 

 included temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, phosphate, nitrate, hy- 

 drogen ion, and silicate. The observations extended generally to a depth 

 of 2000 meters and in some cases to a depth of 4000 meters. 



The waters surveyed included the Celebes Sea, the Sulu Sea, all of 

 the smaller seas of the Philippines, the nearby waters of the South China 

 Sea, and the waters of the Pacific east of the Philippines to a distance 

 of about 300 miles from shore. Most of the areas were surveyed twice; 

 once during the northeast monsoon and once during the southwest mon- 

 soon. 



Following the termination of this operation in June, 1950, the U.S. 

 Agency turned over a small ship and some oceanographic gear to the 

 Bureau of Fisheries of the Philippines. 



