176 OCEANOGRAPHY 



Mr, Bauer. Dr. Galler, you mentioned oceangoing research ships for 

 biologists. How would you run such a ship ? Would it be part and 

 parcel of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, would you say, or 

 should it be handled by the Smithsonian Institution? 



Dr. Galler. Obviously, each Government agency with interests in 

 marine research must be concerned with the problem of obtaining the 

 use of oceangoing research platforms. However, I say, in addition 

 there we need to provide academic institutions with research ships, 

 possibly on a regional basis. We must bring together the biologists 

 located in coastal areas with biologists located in inland universities 

 and on a cooperative basis provide them with the research ships re- 

 quired in the national welfare. 



Also, I sliould say at this point that the limnologists, that is, the 

 fresh water biologists, and the institutions and departments of limnol- 

 ogy in the United States constitute a very important but unrecog- 

 nized resource for education and training of young men and women 

 Avho may later wish to go into the marine sciences, 



Mr. Bauer. Are there any moves afoot that you know of supply- 

 ing this lack of oceanographic or oceangoing ships for biologists ? 



Dr, Galler, I am sure I am not qualified to give you an authorita- 

 tive answer on this, Mr. Bauer. I have understood that the National 

 Science Foundation is making an effort to provide certain oceano- 

 graphic institutions with funds that would permit the biologists there 

 to make use of the oceangoing research ships. 



However, I am not aware of any similar effort to provide marine 

 biologists in other research institutions with ships, 



Mr. Bauer, Does estuarine research need a little bit of help at the 

 present time, do you think ? 



Dr, Galler. Yes, sir; very definitely, 



Mr, Baiter, Do you concur with the thinking of the previous wit- 

 ness. Professor Ray, that the National Museum would be the logical 

 place for the establishment of a biological data center ? 



Dr, Galler, I concur completely with Dr, Ray in the sense that the 

 U,S, National Museum already is the principal center for marine bio- 

 logical collections in the United States, In my opinion, there is a 

 necassity for any gi'oup that is going to establish a data center to proc- 

 ess the data in a manner that would be collated with the biological 

 collections at the Suiithsonian, 



Mr. Bauer. With respect to ocean surveys, Dr. Galler, do you think 

 it possible to make a biological survey simultaneously with a survey of 

 physical oceanography on the same ship or the same operation, or are 

 the requirements different ? 



Dr, Galler. I do not mean to beg the question, but quite frankly 

 I am not sure what is meant by the term "survey," This is one of 

 the terms that appears to mean all things to all people. 



If by a biological survey we mean the routine collection of biologi- 

 cal material coordinated with the collection of physical and chemical' 

 oceanogi'aphic data, I say yes, this is possible, provided we appreciate 

 the great limitations from the biologist's point of view of synoptic 

 sampling; that is, sampling, skipping, sampling, skipping, and so 

 forth — material which may of interest. It does not answer two great 

 needs: 



No. 1, the need for what we call a standard biological station; that 

 is, putting a research ship into a given area for a long enough period i 



