(4) A cooperative U.S. Navy/Canadian program of 15 dives by 

 submersible to depths over 1,500 feet in the Canadian Archipelago in 

 which geological, biological, and acoustical data were obtained; 



(5) Development by the Navy of a computer-based model which 

 relates environmental data to the prediction of sea ice growth and 

 decay ; 



(6) Oceanographic surveys of the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort 

 Seas, as well as of other significant areas, continued by the U.S. Coast 

 Guard, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Geological Survey; 



(7) A major study by the Coast Guard of polar transportation 

 requirements, leading to the design of a five-year research program 

 for which field work has already commenced with studies of sea ice 

 along the Alaskan coast; 



(8) Bottom sampling and seismic profiling by the U.S. Geological 

 Survey in the northern Bering Sea with emphasis on heavy metal de- 

 posits and areas of petroleum potential; and 



( 9 ) ESS A research programs including study of the solar-geophysical 

 relationships and their related telecommunications eflfects. Investiga- 

 tions encompass such areas as measurements of auroral air-glow and 

 the anomalous effect on the geomagnetic field in the Arctic region. 



Ecological Shifts in the Environment 



Over the past decade, as research and survey operations have broadened 

 the scope of knowledge about the marine environment, scientists have 

 become aware of more subtle ecological shifts, both biological and physical. 

 In some cases, such as the balance between anchovy and sardine populations, 

 programs of scientific observation and conservation have attempted to re- 

 store the balance between these species — thereby improving their economic 

 potential. In other cases, where unexplained changes in water temperature 

 or nutrient supply stimulate planktonic forms and cause toxic effects such 

 as the "Red Tide," attempts thus far to alter the ecological environment 

 have not been successful since direct intervention in the situation is too 

 costly or the resulting effect on the environment speculative. 



An example which will require further study is that of the appearance of 

 a predatory starfish, Acanthaster planci, commonly called the "Crown of 

 Thorns," in the U.S. Trust Territory, the Hawaiian and Marshall Islands 

 group and off Australia. Its normal ecological position in past years has 

 been that of a minor predator of coralline invertebrates, primarily those 

 which live in coral reefs. During 1969 there were reports of widespread 

 destruction of reef material by an influx of these starfish. Because this was 

 an abnormal condition which might have serious consequences to reef 

 ecologies, several agencies — the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Navy, 

 the U.S. Coast Guard, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Science 

 Foundation, have initiated studies of the affected areas. Although complete 

 surveys of all island areas were not made a recent report points out that the 

 starfish infestations are of serious growing proportions in some areas. 



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