IV. New Perspectives on Research in the Sea 



Along with the relationship of the sea to national secmity, another 

 set of factors is emerging which defines certain unprecedented aspects 

 of oceanic research. The first of these is recognition that the ocean 

 has three rather than two dimensions, and that the parameter of depth 

 presents new challenges and ojfers new promise that attention only to the 

 surface and boundaries of the sea could never satisfy. Second, the same 

 technology that has evolved to render a new urgency to oceanic re- 

 search ma}^ also be the technology that for the first time may make 

 practicable some solutions to the new demands. Third, the global 

 quality of the oceans which has been recognized in purely geographical 

 terms, also has implications for international cooperation and coordina- 

 tion in studies of the sea which are cited by many as offering unusual 

 promise for promoting the peaceful interests of the United States as 

 well as for maintaining this country in a position of world leadership. 

 International cooperation in science reached an unprecedented level 

 in 1957-58 through the International Geophysical Year, and oceanog- 

 raph}^ was shown to be one of the fields of science that especiall}^ 

 benefited by a global approach. 



Further crystallizing the recent attention to proposals for long- 

 range and far-reaching programs of research and development in the 

 sea and giving them a more driving sense of purpose appears to be a 

 behef that now for the first time the goals can be achieved. 



A. DEPTH THE UNEXPLORED DIMENSION 



In a sense, man is ambivalent in his attitude toward the sea — 

 coupled with the salubrious joys of seashore recreations, man is well 

 aware of his own physiological limitations that preclude prolonged 

 immersion. People have dro^^^led in 6 inches of bath water. Thus, 

 without benefit of mechanical artifice, man could penetrate onto the 

 sea only short distances from the safety of a shoreline, and into the sea 

 for only short distances and exceedingly brief mtervals because of the 

 very necessity of air supply. Ventures onto the sea were accompanied 

 b}^ hazard, by losses of life and property, and often by extreme dis- 

 comfort. The impact of crashing waves is indeed impressive, and for 

 many generations, man dreamed of exploring the quiet waters beneath 

 the turbulent, hostile surface, and utilizing them for transportation. 



Recently technology has greatly changed attitudes toward descent 

 within the sea. Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus 

 (SCUBA) are now commonplace, and the devotees to personal under- 

 water exploration, numerous and widespread. With flippers and air 

 supply, man has a new mobility in shallow water, and the colors, 

 forms, variety, and dynamics of underwater life, so well documented b}" 

 Cousteau, have provided rich rewards. 



On a more significant scale, the submarine provides the vehicle by 

 which man may enter deep as well as shallow waters, in greater num- 

 bers, with the advantage of auxiliary power for performing under- 



