86 EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY 



sense that they roll a lot and this would be not satisfactory for 

 gravity work. 



Mr/ Bauer. Is the Eltanin an icebreaker? Is it constructed as an 

 icebreaker? 



Commander Alexander. It has the same general configuration 

 and I was under the impression that the Eltanin, when not in ice, 

 would probably roll too much for gravity work. 



Mr. Bauer. Are you familiar with the roll tanks that are installed? 



Commander Alexander. We have no experience with roll tanks 

 except as they are on the Vema. They are extremely successful on 

 the Vema. I presume that they would be equally successful on the 

 Eltanin. 



Mr. Bauer. Except to the rolling, the only objection that you 

 have to the Eltanin is the acoustic noise that the ship would produce 

 with relation to seismic work; is that correct? 



Commander Alexander. Yes, sir, and in general, a ship that is 

 designed for cargo or other purposes is not conveniently compart- 

 mented for scientific work. 



Mr. Bauer. Have you been aboard the Eltanin? 



Commander Alexander. Yes, sir; I was very impressed with it. 



Mr. Bauer. Do we have a better compartmented ship in our 

 oceanographic fleet? 



Commander Alexander. We have now the Coast Survey ship 

 Surveyor, which has been designed for hydrographic work. 



We have the new Coast Survey ship for world ocean surveys and 

 three 1,375-ton Navy ships that are under construction. Except for 

 the Surveyor, we have no better-constructed ship; no, sir. 



Mr. Bauer. Let's look at it from a biological ship point of view: 

 Is there a necessity in the national program of having a national 

 biological ship? 



Commander Alexander. A specially constructed ship, Mr. Bauer? 



Mr. Bauer. For biological purposes, or one that will permit scien- 

 tists to indulge in the study of the biota of the seas? 



Commander Alexander. The panel has not had any requests from 

 any of the agencies for specially constructed biological ships. We 

 have discussed in our panel meetings only ships that could be used 

 for all types of oceanography. 



Mr. Bauer. In other words, the National Science Foundation has 

 not indicated that they have any desire or plans for a national oceano- 

 graphic ship for the Indian Ocean in the field of marine biology; is 

 that correct? 



Commander Alexander. I have the National Science Foundation's 

 shipbuilding program, and I do not have any ship in this that is for 

 the biological research. 



Mr. Bauer. Let's talk about the conversion possibilities. The 

 biologists are not necessarily interested in seismic work; are they? 



Commander Alexander. No, sir. And I imagine that for bio- 

 logical work, it might be possible to use a conversion. 



Mr. Baxter. Do you think that biology is of sufficient importance 

 in the world of oceans for us to have a national biological ship? That 

 is the question. 



Commander Alexander. I am not a biologist, Mr. Bauer, but I 

 would say yes. 



Mr. Bauer. You are the ship coordinator for ICO? 



