VI. The Present Posture in Oceanography — ^An Inventory 



Assuming that the previous excerpts of speeches and reports are an 

 accurate indication, there appears to be strong sentiment in favor of 

 increasing oceanic research, both to strengthen our defense posture 

 and to revitalize the civiHan uses and scientific investigations of the 

 sea. A question very naturally arises as to just what is the current 

 level of scientific effort that is held to be presently inadequate? 



As information background for those not familiar with the field, 

 and as a basis for evaluating specific NASCO, TENOC, and ICO 

 proposals for the next 10-year program, efforts were made to collect 

 the most recently available statistics — to identify and inventory cur- 

 rent activities. (Initials refer to National Academy of Sciences, 

 Committee on Oceanography; "Ten Years in Oceanography" study 

 by the Office of Naval Research; and the Interagency Committee on 

 Oceanography.) Since the general program objectives and technical 

 content of oceanic research were outlined previously, attention is 

 directed in this section only to the mechanism of conducting oceanic 

 research. These ingredients are identified in terms of — 



A. The organizations conducting research. 



B. Manpower. 



C. Facilities. 



D. Funding. 



E. Federal agencies having oceanographic responsibilities, and 

 their coordination. 



Some brief details are also offered on comparative programs in the 

 U.S.S.R. and on U.S. participation in international programs. 



Many of these data have been extracted from nine published 

 reports (issued as "chapters,") discussed in Section VIII, or from un- 

 published studies of the Committee on Oceanography of the National 

 Academv of Sciences, in the main, developed through a questionnaire 

 directed in the spring of 1958 to all laboratories known to be engaging 

 in one pliase or another of the marine sciences. Parenthetically, this 

 compilation represents one of the rare cases wherein one particular 

 field of science, and in this case a multidisciplinary field, has been so 

 comprehensively dissected. Additional details have been generously 

 furnished by other government agencies; in particular, the Geophysics 

 Branch of the Office of Naval Research.*^ 



It should be noted that most of the NASCO data refer to fiscal year 

 1958. Significant trends have been identified wherever more current 

 information was available, especially if there was evidence of major 

 deviations from the 1958 base. In many cases, original data have 

 been reclassified or combined to suit the needs of this report. 



The terms of reference of these data are in one sense arbitrary and 

 require some amplification. It is well kno^vn that the term "research" 

 is subject to many interpretations, and that grave difficulty attends 



« Particular acknowledgment should bo made to Richard Vetter, NAS-NRC, and to Arthur Maxwdl, 

 ONR, for assistance in developing unpublished data used in this report and for their suggestions and 

 criticism in review of the manuscript. 



60 



