Chapter 1 



U.S. PARTICIPATION IN 



THE INTERNATIONAL DECADE 



OF OCEAN EXPLORATION 



The mid-1960's was a critical turning point 

 in marine activities. In the United States the 

 1966 enactment of the Marine Resources and 

 Engineering Development Act and creation of 

 the national Sea Grant College Program re- 

 flected the growing concern for man's use and 

 protection of the marine environment. That 

 same year the United Nations General Assem- 

 bly asked the Secretary General to survey the 

 marine science and technology activities both 

 of member States and those of intergovern- 

 mental and nongovernmental international or- 

 ganizations, and to compile proposals to bring 

 about the most effective arrangements for an 

 expanded program of international coopera- 

 tion. 



Common to these actions was the acknowl- 

 edgment that nearly all the issues relating to 

 the seas transcend national boundaries. Presi- 

 dent Lyndon B. Johnson captured this feeling 

 in his remarks commissioning the research 

 ship Oceanographer in July 1966. He observed 

 that: 



Truly great accomplishments in oceanog- 

 raphy will require the cooperation of all 

 the maritime nations of the world. And 

 so ... I send our voice out . . . calling for 

 such cooperation, requesting it, and urg- 

 ing it. . . . We greatly welcome . . . inter- 

 national participation. Because under no 

 circumstances, we believe, must we ever 

 allow the prospects of rich harvests and 

 mineral wealth to create a new form of 

 colonial competition among the maritime 

 nations. We must be careful to avoid a 

 race to grab and to hold the lands under 

 the high seas. We must ensure that the 

 deep seas and the ocean bottoms are, and 

 remain, the legacy of all human beings. 



In March 1968 the President endorsed the 

 concept of an International Decade of Ocean 

 Exploration. He stated: 



The task of exploring the ocean's depth 

 for its potential wealth — food, minerals, 

 resources — is as vast as the seas them- 

 selves. No one nation can undertake that 

 task alone. As we have learned from 

 prior ventures in ocean exploration, co- 

 operation is the only answer. 



J have instructed the Secretary of State 

 to consult with other nations on the steps 

 (hnf could be taken to launch an historic 

 and unprecedented adventure — an Inter- 

 national Decade of Ocean Exploration for 

 the 1970's.^ 



Two months later the Intergovernmental 

 Oceanographic Commission (IOC) adopted a 

 formal recommendation supporting the Dec- 

 ade idea and went on to endorse "the concept 

 of an expanded, accelerated, long-term and 

 sustained program of exploration of the oceans 

 and their resources including international 

 programs, planned and coordinated on a 

 world-wide basis." Further endorsements 

 came from the United Nations General As- 

 sembly. In December 1968 the United Nations 

 endorsed the idea of a coordinated, long-term 

 program of oceanographic research and for- 

 mally welcomed the proposed Decade as an 

 important part of this effort. General Assem- 

 bly Resolution 2467 D (XXIII) endorsed "the 

 concept of an international decade of ocean 

 exploration to be undertaken within the frame- 



1 Special Message to the Congress on Conservation: 

 "To Renew a Nation," March 8, 1968. 



