PREFACE 



The International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE) is a long-term, 

 international, cooperative program to improve the use of the ocean and its 

 resources for the benefit of mankind. 



The IDOE was announced on March 8, 1968, when the President of the 

 United States proposed "an historic and unprecedented adventure — an inter- 

 national Decade of Ocean Exploration for the 1970's." In December 1968 

 the United Nations General Assembly endorsed "the concept of an interna- 

 tional decade of ocean exploration to be undertaken within the framework of 

 a long-term programme of research and exploration. . . ." 



In late 1969, the Vice President of the United States, in his capacity as 

 Chairman of the National Council on Marine Resources and Engineering 

 Development, formally announced the U.S. intention to contribute to the IDOE 

 and assigned responsibility for planning, managing, and funding the U.S. 

 program to the National Science Foundation (NSF). In charging NSF with 

 this responsibility, the Vice President cited proposed goals relative to man's 

 involvement with the oceans in three broad areas. These were: 



• Determine the quality of the ocean environment through accelerated scien- 

 tific observations of the ocean's natural state, evaluate the impact of man's 

 activity on that environment, and establish a scientific basis for corrective 

 actions necessary to preserve the ocean environment; 



• Provide the scientific basis needed to improve environmental forecasting; 

 and 



• Determine the potential resources of the sea floor. 



An additional program was added during Fiscal Year 1972 to: 



• Provide the basic scientific knowledge of biological processes necessary for 

 the intelligent utilization of living marine resources. 



One further objective outlined by the Vice President was to: 



• Improve worldwide data exchange through modernizing and standardizing 

 national and international marine data collection, processing, and distribution. 



In pursuit of this latter objective, the IDOE Office of NSF contracted with 

 the Environmental Data Service (EDS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration to manage the scientific data for IDOE. The agreement included 

 publishing this series of reports. 



The success of the global IDOE program depends greatly on the extent 

 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 Ocean- 

 ographic Commission (IOC) at UNESCO. Scientists and institutions in about 45 

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

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

 To encourage greater participation, the Office for the IDOE provides funds 



III 



