The National Council on Marine Resources and Engineering Develop- 

 ment has been assigned the responsibility by the President for coordinating 

 on a Government-wide basis the ocean exploration activities of all Federal 

 agencies and for developing a coordinated national exploration plan. The 

 Council has assigned to its Committee on Ocean Exploration and Environ- 

 mental Prediction the responsibility for developing the framework for a 10- 

 year Federal ocean exploration plan, which would provide a basis for more 

 detailed planning of exploration activities. During the next fiscal year the 

 Decade planning role will be undertaken by a new joint governmental/non- 

 governmental planning organization, reporting to the National Council on 

 Marine Resources and Engineering Development. The scientific and indus- 

 trial communities will be invited to participate continuously and actively in 

 this planning activity, particularly through the National Academy of 

 Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. 



The scale and pace of development of internationally oriented ocean 

 exploration programs will depend in large measure on the international 

 interest and participation in the Decade, and the benefits that are derived 

 from the collaborative programs as they develop. Clearly, significant strides 

 in realizing more fully the potential of the oceans will require greater alloca- 

 tion of resources by all participants, together with closer coordination using 

 the present resources of many nations. If the Decade is accepted and broadly 

 supported on an international basis, it is likely that the expenditures will 

 increase more rapidly during the later years of the Decade than during the 

 early 1970's as the mobilization of the resources of many nations accelerates. 

 At the present time the United States supports many programs devoted 

 to ocean exploration with about 30 percent of the Federal marine science 

 budget designated for programs related to ocean exploration. About half 

 of these programs are of broad international interest. 



The Promise of the Ocean 



We have only begun to realize the promise of the ocean. As the world's 

 population grows rapidly, the sea can provide new sources of nutritious food. 

 Untapped mineral and energy resources of the sea can help meet growing 

 demands of the world's expanding economy. New understanding of the 

 processes of the ocean- — the great regulator of weather and climate — can 

 benefit agriculture, shipping, travel, health, and recreation. 



The time is ripe to extend our efforts seaward. The technology is under 

 accelerated development. The task is formidable, but the challenge of the 

 ocean frontier will inspire all who probe its secrets. 



The ocean can tie the nations of the world together more than it sepa- 

 rates them geographically. The sciences of the ocean are universal. Now all 

 nations can unite in mobilizing their energies to promote the peaceful and 

 cooperative use of the ocean so that its bounty may serve the needs of all 

 mankind. 



U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1968 



