8 FRONTIERS IN OCEANIC RESEARCH 



It is important that we learn how many fish there are, and where 

 they are, in order to map out fishing programs that can help to relieve 

 the situation with respect to food supplies which now exist. 



There is another aspect of the resources of the oceans 



Mr. Fulton. Before you leave that point, as a matter of fact then 

 you are in the school then instead of being against more birth control, 

 you are for finding more fish ? 



Dr. Brown. I am for a balanced program. [Laughter.] 



Mr. Fulton. Very good. 



Dr. Brown. The other aspect of ocean resources, which is extremely 

 important — and we have but begun to appreciate what we can be done 

 eventually — involves the mineral resources of the sea. 



You gentlemen in particular are well aware of the fact that we 

 have continental shelves and that there is oil under the continental 

 shelves. But from the long-range point of view, of equal importance, 

 I believe, is the fact that there are minerals in the deep seas which 

 in principle can be mined. Such elements as manganese cobalt, and 

 nickel, I believe eventually can be secured from the ocean depths 

 economically. 



The other aspects of the oceans which should be studied intensively 

 involves radioactivity. 



With the liberation of nuclear energy man has brought into the 

 world something which has not existed on a large concentrated scale 

 before — at least since the Earth has come into existence. 



We have to know what we are doing when we introduce these large 

 quantities of radioactivity into living systems. 



We are today introducing radioactivity into the oceans by means 

 of the explosion of nuclear weapons. We are also talking about in- 

 troducing large quantities of radioactivity in the disposal of waste 

 from nuclear powerplants. 



We are today introducing quite small quantities of radioactivity 

 into offshore areas in the disposal of low-level radioactive waste from 

 hospitals and from laboratories. 



It is terribly important that before these quantities get much larger 

 that we understand what is going to happen to them. 



It is important that we prevent them from getting back into the 

 food chain and then back into human beings. 



Now, the only way we can guarantee ourselves that they won't get 

 back into the food chains is to learn something more about ocean cir- 

 culation patterns, to learn something more about the habits of living 

 organisms in the seas, and to learn something more about how the 

 various radioactive elements which are disposed of behave in sea water. 



Certain elements, for example, like vanadium, are just concentrated 

 fantastically by certain marine organisms, so if one were to dispose of 

 a large quantity of radioactive vanadium, the chances would be good 

 that this particular kind of organism would be killed off in that area. 



Mr. Miller. Aren't those primarily Crustacea? 



Dr. Brown. That is correct, yes. 



Mr. Miller. In other words, that includes the shrimp, the lobsters? 



Dr. Brown. I'm sorry I am not enough of a marine biologist. 



Mr. Miller. We do know it is crustaceans? 



Dr. Brown. That is correct, yes. 



