198 EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY 



I think we are developing a good plan for this tropical Atlantic 

 investigation, and I feel that this particular project will produce good 

 results both scientifically and from the point of view of international 

 relations. 



I have here on the off chance that the committee might be interested 

 in the Panel's method of operation in setting this up, the original 

 questionnaire sent out to Panel members last March, in which they 

 were asked for their agency's views on such a cooperative effort in 

 the tropical Atlantic. I have the May 8 panel report on the results 

 of this questionnaire. 



I have also the minutes of the August 1, 1961, meeting of the 

 Panel, at which this was the main agenda item. 



I also have the minutes of the Panel meeting last December 1, at 

 which the current status of the project was discussed. I will leave 

 all of these for you, Mr. Chairman, so that you will have on hand 

 papers showing how this Panel actually works. 



I am sorry that the minutes of Monday's meeting are not yet avail- 

 able. The first real function, then, of the Ocean Surveys Advisory 

 Panel is in the field of developing a national program of oceanographic 

 surveys. 



The second function has been the initiation and fostering of inter- 

 agency cooperation at what I like to call the wet-deck level. There 

 were numerous examples of this since the inception of the ICO. 

 Probably the first, however, was the 1960 Explorer expedition of the 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey. Actually aboard and carrying out pro- 

 grams planned closely with the Coast Survey were personnel from the 

 Weather Bureau, the Navy Electronics Laboratory, from the Marine 

 Physical Laboratory, and the tuna oceanography research group of 

 the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and from Oregon State 

 College. 



In addition, programs were planned and carried out abroad in 

 conjunction with the Geological Survey, the Bureau of Commercial 

 Fisheries, the National Museum of the Smithsonian, the Bureau of 

 Mines, the Public Health Service, even the Census Bureau and the 

 Post Office Department. It was indeed a cooperative expedition. 



I have brought with me, Mr. Chairman, and will leave for your 

 committee the first copy of the report of this particular expedition. 

 This copy was especially collated and bound by personnel of the 

 Government Printing Office prior to the regular running of the 

 report, due for delivery to the Coast Survey this week. I am pleased 

 to present you, sir, with this first copy of the report of this truly 

 cooperative expedition. 



However, a program in which the Ocean Survey Advisory Panel 

 played a more important role was the United States first attempt at 

 ocean wide surveys. The Coast and Geodetic Survey ship the Pioneer, 

 during calendar year 1961, started oceanwide surveys in the Pacific. 

 This is the program initially proposed by the National Academy of 

 Sciences and pushed forward by the Interagency Committee on 

 Oceanography. It was indeed the beginning of what the Panel 

 hopes will in time become a full-scale international oceanwide survey 

 program . 



The guidelines under which the survey was planned and carried 

 out were those of the NASCO report, and of the Surveys Panel of the 

 ICO. It was not just a Coast Survey show. The Weather Bureau 



