36 



Oceanography 1951 



operates one of the four vessels working in 

 this program. In the Gulf of Mexico, a new 

 laboratory has recently been established at 

 Galveston, where a large research vessel 

 operates to study the productivity of the 

 Gulf from a fishery point of view. Here a 

 cooperative program is evolving in which 

 all institutions interested in marine studies 

 are invited to participate. At Sarasota, Flor- 

 ida, are a small laboratory and vessel de- 

 voted to investigating the causes of periodic 

 swarming of plankton organisms, particu- 

 larly of species causing the so-called "red 

 tide" which is occasionally so destructive to 

 fish and invertebrates. In New England 

 waters a new small research vessel has re- 

 cently been commissioned to study the ecol- 

 ogical causes of fluctuations of oyster pop- 

 ulation in Long Island Sound. At Woods 

 Hole is centered the research program 

 which the United States conducts as a mem- 

 ber nation of the International Commission 

 for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, with 

 one sea-going vessel. 



Finally, the Beach Erosion Board of the 

 Army's Corps of Engineers is conducting 



oceanographic research on waves and other 

 processes of importance to shore erosion 

 and its control, and is sponsoring research 

 by universities. Research on the phenomena 

 of the boundary layer between atmosphere 

 and ocean and on sea ice is being spon- 

 sored by the Air Force. 



Any listing of the facilities for the devel- 

 opment of the marine sciences in this 

 country is in danger of giving a false im- 

 pression of adequacy. With the exception 

 of the groups at Woods Hole and La 

 Jolla, each unit is small and several of them 

 are only a few years old. To a large degree 

 they are dependent on government support 

 of a short-term nature. Much of the work 

 is aimed at local problems or at problems 

 having immediate application. When the 

 size of the oceans is borne in mind and it 

 is remembered that oceanography attempts 

 to deal with the biology and chemistry as 

 well as the physics and geology of he seas, 

 it can be seen that the establishments sup- 

 porting the present national effort in 

 oceanography are probably inadequate. 



