OCEANOGRAPHY 171 



are able to select and identify targets from great distances. Further, these 

 organisms are able to "navigate" with great accuracy toward these targets in a 

 manner presently not understood by man. It is noteworthy that many of these 

 animals are relatively small, weighing only a few pounds. Nevertheless, they 

 encompass exceedingly complex mechanisms for information reception, integra- 

 tion, and transmission. In other words, these microminiaturized natural systems 

 are capable of performing at levels of efficiency that man, with his most sophisti- 

 cated equipment which may weigh upward of hundreds of pounds, is unable to 

 duplicate at present. Thus, the investigation of biological systems could well 

 lead to the development of new concepts for the construction of mechanical and 

 electronic analogs of considerable usefulness to the Navy. There are a number 

 of classified aspects to this phase of the program which I would be happy to 

 present to the subcommittee if it so desires. Continuing along imclassifled lines, 

 however, it should be noted that in addition to efficient navigational mechanisms 

 many marine animals possess highly developed communication systems, silent 

 propulsion systems, and hydrodynamic characteristics which, frankly speaking, 

 we envy and would like to duplicate. 



I have presented in this statement a number of examples of the Navy's interests 

 and activities in the field of hydrobiology. There are other items in this area 

 which I could present except for the limitations of time. However, they all have 

 fine common frame of reference. Simply stated, all of our objectives and 

 interests are predicated upon a continued and extended support of a broad 

 spectrum of scientific disciplines which make up the field that we call hydro- 

 biology. The motivating philosophy behind ONR's hydrobiology program is 

 that before we can successfully control, utilize, or emulate living organisms, or 

 certain properties of living organisms, we must first establish a body of basic 

 information regarding the vital processes, the behavioral patterns, the population 

 dynamics, and the geographic and seasonal distribution of the organisms as 

 well as their interrelationships with the other factors of their environments. In 

 order to obtain this body of basic information which must serve as the foundation 

 for further research and development, there is an urgent requirement to support 

 adequately marine microbiology, systematics, ecology, physiology, biochemistry, 

 genetics, and other specialties which comprise what we call hydrobiology. As 

 you can see, therefore, the hydrobiological sciences not only impinge upon and 

 extend into oceanography but cover a much broader and more diffuse collection 

 of research specialties in the biological sciences. In this connection it is 

 important to note that, although a number of very competent biological scientists 

 are located at oceanographic institutions, the great preponderance of hydro- 

 biologists reside outside of oceanographic institutions and are located in depart- 

 ments of biology throughout the United States and abroad. Many of these de- 

 partments of biology are associated with marine, estuarine, or fresh-water 

 laboratories, where most of the hydrobiological field studies are being conducted. 



Very few marine or fresh-water laboratories in the United States associated 

 with academic institutions have the financial resources or the facilities needed 

 to support to the limits of their capabilities the outstanding biological scientists 

 on their staff. As a result, we are left with important gaps in our knowledge. 

 For example, taxonomy, which includes the identification of species of maxine 

 animals and plants, is greatly undersupported to the point that the Navy and 

 other agencies requiring taxonomic identification of organisms of direct concern 

 to their activities are unalile to obtain this information or, at best, must wait for 

 many months and even years before the data is made available. The relatively 

 small numl)er of marine taxonomists located in such in.stitutions as the U.S. 

 National Museum are greatly overburdened with a backlog of biological collec- 

 tions and i"e(iuests for identification. The fact that very few promising young 

 graduates choose taxonomy for their scientific careers accentuates the problem. 

 Although various agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the 

 office of Naval Research, are attempting to alleviate the situation within the 

 limits of their resources, support for this essential scientific discipline is still 

 grossly inadequate. 



This committee may wish to note that very few marine biological laboratories 

 and departments have access to oceangoing research ships. As a cons^ (luence, 

 the necessity for careful and sustained study of marine animals and pii.nts in 

 their oceanic environments is not being fulfilled. The result is that for the most 

 part we must rely upon preserved collections of biological material or try to main- 

 tain living organisms in the laboratory. Both of these, while of great importance 

 in their own right, are inadequate substitutes for many types of liiological in- 

 vestigations under field conditions. There exists an urgent need to provide 



