Water samples being recovered abroad the NOAA Vessel, Ferrel, in the New 

 York Bight. The chemical analysis of water and suspended sediment is an im- 

 portant part of environmental assessment studies. 



Seattle, Wash. This office is involved in planning and coordinating 

 NOAA's ongoing Puget Sound activities, conducted by the National 

 Ocean Survey and the Environmental Research Laboratories. These 

 activities include a study in northern Puget Sound carried out in 

 cooperation with Canadian oceanographic laboratories. The study 

 will result in establishing both the characteristics of the tides and 

 currents of northern Puget Sound in the San Juan Island area and the 

 basis for determining the exchange of waters between northern 

 Puget Sound and southern Georgia Straits. It will also provide the 

 tidal reference stations required to improve our ability to predict the 

 tidal excursion and tidal currents in the straits and channels of 

 northern Puget Sound. 



In addition to regional projects, NOAA is actively pursuing 

 several special problems in the oceans both near the shore and in 

 deep water. For example, hydrocarbon baseline studies in Prince 



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