Current l^rohlctns 



2.3 



Ncssels primarily employed in oceano- 

 graphic surveying. Because of their ex- 

 pensive operation, inflexible operating 

 plaiis, crowded work load, and difficulty in 

 arranging for temporary installations, these 

 are not often suitable for testing new 

 methods or techniques. 



Although a large amount of new con- 

 struction is not required immediately, the 

 time will soon come when present vessels, 

 most of which were not designed for 

 oceanographic work, will need to be super- 

 seded by economical diesel-propelled craft 

 with the laboratory and deck space re- 

 quired by modern scientific equipment, and 

 capable of remaining at sea for protracted 

 periods. Funds are also needed to allow 

 greater use of existing bottoms for basic 

 research. It is particularly desirable to 

 obtain support for a new cycle of explor- 

 ing expeditions, using the new techniques 

 and equipment developed in recent years 

 to survey the wide and virtually unknown 

 expanses of the high seas. 



SHORE FACILITIES 



At only one of the three major oceano- 

 graphic institutions are the shore facilities 

 reasonably adequate for present needs. The 

 physical plant of the Oceanographic Lab- 

 oratories of the University of Washington 

 is not yet occupied to capacity. At the 

 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, tem- 

 porary wooden structures both at La Jolla 

 and on Point Loma have been provided 

 by the Navy. Little space is available for 

 visitors, hov/ever, and such essential fa- 

 cilities as running sea water and many of 

 the more expensive types of laboratory 

 equipment are not available at Point Loma. 

 At the Woods Hole Oceanographic Insti- 

 tution the facilities are over-taxed even 

 for the permanent staff, and working space 

 for visitors is wholly inadequate. 



MANPOWER AND EDUCATION 



The problems of manpower and education 

 in oceanography arise from the small size 

 of the group concerned, which is limited 

 not by the scope or importance of phe- 

 nomena to be studied but by the expense 



of oceanographic work. The costs prohibit 

 universities from developing skilled work- 

 ers after the usual pattern. Some special 

 solution of the problem of education is 

 recjuired. 



During and since the war, opportunities 

 for oceanographic research have increased 

 more rapidly than has the number of 

 trained oceanographers. Positions open to 

 students of oceanography are for the most 

 part in government laboratories or in uni- 

 versity departments devoted to some es- 

 tablished related field. Once these posi- 

 tions are filled, the demand for trained men 

 is likely to decline so that perhaps ten 

 good recruits per year will suffice for all 

 the openings now envisioned. How to at- 

 tract men of high capacity into such a 

 field, and how best to provide for their 

 training, is a perplexing question. It will 

 probably not be advisable to increase 

 greatly the number of departments of 

 oceanography in the universities, but it is 

 desirable that more men trained in the 

 subject find places in other appropriate 

 departments and thus stimulate under- 

 graduate students to enter the field. 



The oceanographic laboratories must 

 always retain a central position in train- 

 ing oceanographers since they alone can 

 provide first hand experience in work at 

 sea. Young oceanographers should serve 

 an apprenticeship at one of these as gradu- 

 ate students or through postgraduate em- 

 ployment. Relatively few, however, can 

 hope for permanent employment since the 

 senior positions of the staff must remain 

 limited in number. 



A more adequate and varied senior staff 

 at each of the oceanographic laboratories 

 is urgently needed. At present there are 

 perhaps twenty-five men in the three major 

 institutions who serve with tenure and de- 

 vote their major effort to the subject. Ac- 

 cordingly, since oceanography is based on 

 at least four of the recognized fields of 

 science— physics, chemistry, biology, and ge- 

 ology—no one institution has a well bal- 

 anced staff. For a better balance, doubling 

 the number of senior positions appears to 

 be a minimal requirement. 



