12 



and there is also an active and effective program involving remote- 

 ly operated vehicle technology and development of such systems at 

 Woods Hole. 



Two Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles have been operated for un- 

 dersea research by Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution since 

 about 1970, 23 years ago, sometimes using funds provided by 

 NURP. Funding for operation of other small submersibles and re- 

 motely operated vehicles is provided through our national agency. 



At the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, something 

 new has come about in just the last few years — important develop- 

 ments in remotely operated vehicle technology supported with pri- 

 vate funds largely contributed by industrialist and philanthropist 

 David Packard. Hundreds of small ROVs have been produced in 

 the past decade by U.S. companies. This has been possible largely 

 because of the market provided by national and international in- 

 dustry and military interests. Is it not ironic that we do not have 

 in parallel a substantial Federal commitment to capitalize on, coop- 

 erate with and provide encouragement for these effective and 

 largely private endeavors through a vigorous National Underwater 

 Research Program? Rather, world leadership for underwater tech- 

 nology and research has moved to Japan. 



Back in 1960, I think it is fair to say, that the U.S. had the lead. 

 This was illustrated in a dramatic way when the Trieste was oper- 

 ated by the U.S. Navy for once-and-never-more descent to the deep- 

 est part of the ocean, to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, about 

 seven miles down. Soon, however, Japan will have the only work- 

 ing access to full ocean depth. The Trieste vehicles, and there were 

 three, have been retired for several years. But this year, an un- 

 manned vehicle operating from a dedicated support ship will be 

 launched by JAMSTEC, Japan's reasonably well-funded national 

 facility for undersea technology and research. And within the next 

 year or two, a manned system capable of going all the way to 

 11,000 meters will be produced, giving Japan unique access to an 

 area in the deep sea about the size of the United States, a place 

 where no other country will have working access. 



The deep trenches harbor a high-pressure environment unlike 

 anywhere — on this planet or any other. Geologists are as eager to 

 understand grand earth processes that occur in the subduction 

 areas at the bottom of these deep trenches as are the biologists who 

 want to know what lives there and how? With luck, Japan will be 

 generous and allow U.S. participation in JAMSTEC's bold and com- 

 mendable ventures. 



Meanwhile, the U.S. counterpart agency to JAMSTEC— NURP— 

 faces an uncertain future as does the overall role of the United 

 States with respect to undersea research and exploration. While 

 the future of Russia's advanced systems, the deep diving MIR I and 

 MIR II, and the programs that support them, also face uncertain- 

 ties. Other countries in addition to Japan are moving strongly for- 

 ward. The first distinctively new design in more than a decade for 

 a deep-manned research submersible was built by a U.S. company 

 in 1984 but using funds from Canada for a Canadian company. The 

 latest new design is also being produced and two advanced submer- 

 sibles built by the same U.S. company with funding from a commu- 

 nications firm not in the U.S. but in France. This is not surprising 



