181 



What we need to do now, I think, is understand what we are 

 much more open. That's what MEDEA is about. 



We've got cleared scientists looking at these data sets, and we 

 look at these data sets and together, we are deciding and rec- 

 ommending what we can do. 



Mr. Olver. Will you declassify for me what MEDEA is? There 

 is no definition of what it is in this. 



Admiral BOORDA. I'll let Admiral Watkins do that because he tes- 

 tifies so well. 



Mr. Olver. Yes. 



Dr. Ballard. Let me comment on that. 



Mr. Olver. Admiral Watkins certainly pointed out and defended 

 you, while saying, declassify the stuff now. The Evil Empire is 

 over, and so on. I suppose there are some of those things that one 

 should still worry about. But, boy, there's a lot of duplicative data 

 out there that different groups have been putting together that we 

 really do need the cooperation and coordination to use what seems 

 to be the watchword here this morning in a variety of different 

 ways, in making this available to everybody and let's get on with 

 it to avoid what the gentleman from Mississippi pointed out, or 

 what you yourself pointed out about how those data and the sen- 

 sitivity to taking those data, salinity and temperature data and 

 those kinds of things that we could be using that it would take 

 fleets and fleets to get out there and get that in the sort of more 

 traditional ways. 



Mr. Weldon. You've got a number of individuals who want to re- 

 spond. 



So why don't we start over here with Dr. Ballard and then Dr. 

 Baker. 



Dr. Ballard. Just quickly. I think you may be also referring to 

 the article that was just two days ago in the science section of the 

 New York Times about the Lamont declassification of data. 



In that case, that was multi-beam data which has a much higher 

 resolution than gravity data. I think it's important to point out, if 

 you had a map of the world in this room, which I strongly rec- 

 ommend, you'll see that the vast majority of the world's oceans is 

 in the southern hemisphere. 



There's a certain amount of mining that one can do of the mili- 

 tary data base, but their mission has primarily been a mission in 

 the northern hemisphere. 



And certainly, one of the things that we need to concern our- 

 selves about, that there are huge stretches of the southern hemi- 

 sphere that have never had an oceanographic research vessel ever 

 pass over them once, let alone more than once. 



And so, again, I think a map of the world would help guide peo- 

 ple to know that most of the world's oceans is in the southern 

 hemisphere. 



Mr. Olver. It would be a wonderful exercise in cooperation for 

 you folks, as out of the nine agencies or either of the five, or which- 

 ever it is, to figure for us the most descriptive map that could fill 

 that wall of these data. 



It would be a wonderful exercise. 



