to which all participating nations contribute their expertise and capabilities. 

 The NSF Office for IDOE has encouraged foreign institutions and researchers 

 to participate in IDOE directly and through the Intergovernmental Oceanogra- 

 phic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. Scientists and institutions in about 40 

 nations — in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and South America — are now 

 participating, and the level of their involvement in these projects is increasing. 

 To encourage greater participation, the Office for the IDOE has given IOC a 

 2-year grant to enable IOC to convene international scientific workshops to 

 consider and, when appropriate, recommend new projects for IDOE. IOC 

 has recognized IDOE as an important part of its long-term program and has 

 endorsed all NSF-sponsored major projects as key elements of IOC's overall 

 IDOE program. 



We are looking forward to continuing oceanographic research efforts 

 under IDOE that place increasing emphasis on international aspects of the 

 program. We hope that in the years to come the IDOE will be remembered 

 as a program that benefited all mankind and set a pattern for many other 

 international ventures to follow. 



Freenan D. Jennings, Head 

 Office for the International 

 Decade of Ocean Exploration 



IV 



