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

 as Chairman of the Marine Council, formally announced the United States' 

 intention to contribute to the International Decade of Ocean Exploration 

 and assigned responsibility to the National Science Foundation, an inde- 

 pendent agency of the U.S. Government established in 1950 "to promote 

 the progress of science . . .", and authorized "to foster the interchange 

 of scientific information among scientists in the United States and foreign 

 countries . . . [and] to initiate and support specific scientific activities 

 in connection with matters relating to international co-operation . . .". 

 In charging the National Science Foundation with the responsibility for 

 the planning, management, and funding of the United States' program, 

 the Vice President proposed goals to: 



1. Preserve the ocean environment by accelerating scientific observa- 

 tions of the natural state of the ocean and its interactions with the 

 coastal margin — to provide a basis for (a) assessing and predicting 

 man-induced and natural modifications of the character of the 

 oceans ; (b) identifying damaging or irreversible effects of waste 

 disposal at sea; and (c) comprehending the interaction of various 

 levels of marine life to permit steps to prevent depletion or extinc- 

 tion of valuable species as a result of man's activities ; 



2. Improve environmental forecasting to help reduce hazards to life 

 and property and permit more eflicient use of marine resources — by 

 improving physical and mathematical models of the ocean and at- 

 mosphere which will provide the basis for increased accuracy, time- 

 liness, and geographic precision of environmental forecasts ; 



3. Expand seabed assessment activities to permit better management — 

 domestically and internationally — of marine mineral exploration and 

 exploitation by acquiring needed knowledge of seabed topography, 

 structure, physical and dynamic properties, and resource potential, 

 and to assist industry in planning more detailed investigations; 



4. Develop an ocean monitoring system to facilitate prediction of 

 oceanographic and atmospheric conditions — through design and de- 

 ployment of oceanographic data buoys and other remote-sensing 

 platforms ; 



v^ 5. Improve worldwide data exchange through modernizing and stand- 

 ardizing national and international marine data collection, process- 

 ing, and distribution ; and 

 6. Accelerate Decade planning to increase opportunities for interna- 

 national sharing of responsibilities and costs for ocean exploration, 

 and to assure better use of limited exploration capabilities. 



The Office for the International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE) 

 was officially established within the National Science Foundation shortly 

 thereafter. In developing the program, the Foundation has drawn on: 

 the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission's "Comprehensive Out- 

 line of the Scope of the Long-Term and Expanded Program of Oceanic 

 Exploration and Research"; the report entitled "Global Ocean Research" 

 prepared by a Joint Working Party nominated by FAO's Advisory Com- 

 mittee on Marine Resources Research, ICSU's Scientific Committee on 

 Oceanic Research, and WMO's Advisory Group on Ocean Research; the 

 First Report of the Group of Experts on Long-Term Scientific Policy and 



