152 EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY 



ANNEX I 



ADDRESS BY MR. RENE MAHEU, 

 ACTING DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNESCO, 

 AT THE OPENING OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE 

 INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMISSION 



Paris, 19 October 1961 



Ladies and Gentlemen, 



It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to this inaugural meeting of the Intergovernmental 

 Oceapographic Commission. As you all know, the purpose of this Commission is to contribute to 

 the development of scientific research through the concerted efforts of its members to obtain a 

 better knowledge of the nature and resources of the oceans. The meeting in this hall of the repre- 

 sentatives of 40 nations shows clearly how much the creation of the Commission, decided by 

 Unesco's General Conference less than a year ago, meets a need of the international community. 



Science has a long tradition of international co-operation behind it. The scientific study of 

 the oceans is one of the best examples by which to illustrate the need for this kind of co-operation. 

 The very vastness of the seas necessitates the combination and co-ordination of efforts and re- 

 sources in order to make research work a success. The oceans, whose waters mingle and circu- 

 late over the whole surface of the planet, cover approximately three-quarters of the earth's sur- 

 face and, beyond the limits of territorial waters, the high seas are a truly international area. 



The scientific study of the ocean has become more important to mankind than ever before. 

 There are several reasons for this. The sea is a principal means of communication, used by a 

 considerable portion of world trade. It is a source of mineral wealth, some of which is dissolved, 

 the rest deposited on the sea bed. Being a reservoir of water and heat, it regulates meteorology 

 and climates. With its store of proteins, it nourishes hungry millions. It is also a gigantic ditch 

 into which man discharges the waste from his organic exchanges and the detritus, as it were, of 

 his civilization. In order to master the sea and to make rational use of the possibilities it offers, 

 one must have a thorough knowledge of the complex natural phenomena which take place within it. 

 Moreover, it may be said that, on the whole, scientists are less interested in solving immediate 

 practical problems than in satisfying their ardent curiosity for the truth. The sea offers an 

 almost unlimited field for such research. 



At the time of the first great oceanographic expedition, carried out by the British vessel 

 "Challenger" in 1873-1876, a single ship could collect an enormous amount of new data. But 

 as their knowledge increased, scientists felt more and more the need for numerous, detailed and 

 systematic observations. There can be no doubt that in our own time, the solution of many im- 

 portant oceanographic problems requires the simultaneous and closely co-ordinated action of a 

 large number of vessels. 



This international action, which had been steadily developing over a decade, gained strong 

 impetus from the International Geophysical Year. In the North Atlantic and the Pacific, interna- 

 tional co-operation made it possible to study vast regions of the ocean. The international Indian 

 Ocean Expedition, which is now being organized by the Special Committee on Oceanic Research 

 and which Unesco has agreed to sponsor, will provide an opportunity for more than 20 nations and 

 40 ships to work together on the exploration of an immense and still largely unknown ocean. 



Other aspects of oceanography also require concerted action by all nations concerned. For 

 this research to be successful, it is essential to obtain rapidly and in convenient form the results 

 which have already been gathered from a study of the same or similar problems. Thus the exchange 

 of oceanographic data and information is of international importance. No doubt new documentation 

 centres will have to be added to those that already exist. But more than a purely quantitative 

 effort is required. The free exchange of information poses the capital problem of their quality 

 and comparability; hence the need for the standardization of methods and the calibration of instru- . 

 ments on an international basis. Nor is that all. The examination of technical questions relating 



