30 EIGHTH PACIFIC SCIENCE CONGRESS 



required for each trip and the ship was "frozen in" for the winter each 

 time. 



It has been said that there are a thousand ships in the Atlantic 

 for every one in the Pacific. This is certainly true in the Pacific ap- 

 proaches to Canada. There is little or no trans-Pacific traffic. Fisheries 

 and commerce are contained in the inland seaways, and within sight 

 of land. The oceanographic explorations have been made by the Pacific 

 Oceanographic Group, working with ships provided solely for this pur- 

 pose by the Navy, the Hydrographic Service, and the Fisheries. 



Thus the Pacific Group has had to devote most of its effort to ob- 

 servation. 



The Pacific Coast of Canada is situated where the west-wind drift 

 current (Japan Current) across the ocean divides, part going north to 

 form the Alaska Gyral and part going south to form the California Cur- 

 rent. The currents off the Canadian coast are slow (10 to 20 miles a 

 day) and confused. There are considerable changes from year to year 

 as the west-wind current shifts north or south exposing the region 

 alternatively to Sub-Arctic or Sub-Tropic waters. 



Five large synoptic surveys of this region were made in successive 

 seasons from 1950 to 1952, and the oceanography has been described. 



The Pacific Coast is also remarkable for the line of barrier islands, 

 and the great runoff from the large rivers. There are a series of sounds, 

 inlets, and straits. Each of these supports valuable local populations 

 of salmon, herring, and other commercial fishes. Many of them are 

 dominated by great tidal currents, and fresh water from the land. Each 

 area is a complete oceanographic system, differing from its neighbors 

 and from the ocean in many ways. 



Each day at high tide a sample of sea water is taken at fifteen posi- 

 tions along the coast. The temperature is recorded, and the samples 

 shipped to the base laboratory at Nanaimo, where the salinity is deter- 

 mined. These data are published annually and are widely used by 

 fisheries, meteorologists, and shipping. 



It has been found that these data define the seasonal cycles in the 

 sea, mark the differences between regions along the coast, show the dif- 

 ferences between years, and are generally an index of the oceanographic 

 conditions. They have been correlated to the winds, the currents, and 

 to the fisheries in Canadian and neighboring waters. They form a calen- 

 dar of oceanography to which all other studies in the sea can be related. 

 These daily seawater observations are one of the most important, and 

 at the same time the cheapest of our oceanographic programs. 



Exploratory surveys have been made in most of the seaways and 

 the ocean. This is being followed by detailed studies in each region to 

 determine their structure, and mechanism, and seasonal cycles of 



