Chapter XIV 



INTERNATIONAL DECADE OF OCEAN 

 EXPLORATION 



In 1969, the United States formally announced its initial plans for 

 participation in the International Decade of Ocean Exploration, culminat- 

 ing 2 years of intensive planning in national and international forums; and 

 the international community moved ahead in outlining and shaping the 

 multinational framework for planning and coordination. 



The United States had proposed the International Decade in March 1968 

 as a program of intensified international collaboration to plan, develop, and 

 carry out research to increase understanding of the ocean and its mineral 

 and living resources. Later in the year the United Nations General Assembly 

 welcomed the proposal as an important element of a United Nations Long 

 Term and Expanded Program of Oceanic Exploration and Research. 



The Decade concept anticipates sustained international planning and 

 coordination to identify the most promising geographic areas and lines of 

 scientific and engineering inquiry, set priorities, and agree on the sharing 

 and distribution of effort. It is oriented toward learning more about the 

 ocean environment, and places new emphasis on standardized data collection 

 and dissemination techniques, expanded involvement of a large number of 

 nations, and stronger coordination among the many international bodies 

 concerned with the sea. 



On October 19 the Vice President announced the initial U.S. Decade 

 plans, as one of the areas of the President's five-point marine science pro- 

 gram, stating that the United States would propose international emphasis 

 on goals to — 



( 1 ) Preserve the ocean environment by accelerating scientific obser- 

 vations of the natural state of the ocean and its interactions with the 

 coastal margin — to provide a basis for {a) assessing and predicting 

 man-induced and natural modifications of the character of the oceans ; 

 [b) identifying damaging or irreversible effects of waste disposal at 

 sea; and [c) comprehending the interaction of various levels of marine 

 life to permit steps to prevent depletion or extinction of valuable 

 species as a result of man's activities; 



(2) Improve environmental forecasting to help reduce hazards 

 to life and property and pemiit more efficient use of marine resources — 

 by improving physical and mathematical models of the ocean and 



195 



The research vessel Atlantis II lies at anchor off the Malagasy Republic. Inter- 

 national cooperation in scientific research will lead to a greater understanding 

 of the world ocean during the International Decade of Ocean Exploration. 



