12 



Oceanography — The Ten V'ears Ahead 



requires similar study to reinforce public confi- 

 dence in the safety of such operations. 



The Atomic Energy Commission plans not only 

 to expand its already extensive monitoring efforts 

 at test sites, in the vicinity of stationary reactor 

 sites on land, and at the places where wastes are 

 disposed of at sea, but also plans greatly to ex- 

 pand its research effort on the effect of nuclides 

 in ocean water in general. It expects to spend 

 about $68 million over the decade and will be 

 assisted by the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Bureau 

 of Commercial Fisheries, and the Public Health 

 Service in one or another aspect of its work. 

 Nearly half of these funds will go to support 

 basic research. During the period of this report, 

 our efforts at inventorying and understanding the 

 biological wealth of the world ocean will account 

 for 19 percent of the total budget; over half of 

 this will be spent for basic research. A portion of 

 this work has implications primarily for the U.S. 

 public, as discussed in the next section. 



concentrations of "normal" wastes in our streams 

 and estuaries, and to the appearance of new and 

 highly resistant chemical wastes produced by 

 modern technology. Radioactive wastes discharged 

 by atomic plants are the first of the new long- 

 lived poisons which come to mind, but many other 

 less familiar chemical products may be even more 

 hazardous. Among these are alkylbenzene sul- 

 fonates (ABS), DDT, Aldrin, Parathion, Lindane, 

 and a variety of nitrogen compounds. As a conse- 

 quence, not only has the Atomic Energy Commis- 

 sion undertaken an increasing program in ocea- 

 nographic research but the programs of the 

 agencies traditionally concerned with oceanog- 

 raphy have also expanded their research in marine 

 pollution. 



In 1963, the goal of safeguarding health in 

 relation to seaside pollution accounted for atx)ut 

 four percent of our oceanographic budget. Over 

 the decade ahead it is likely to remain afxjut the 

 same, totaling about $95 million. 



D. Managing Resources in Domestic Waters 



1. SAFEGUARDING PUBLIC HEALTH 



The streams and rivers into which man pours 

 his industrial waste and sewage in increasing con- 

 centrations as they flow through the countryside 

 eventually reach the broad estuaries where they 

 slowly mix with the sea. Although water, both 

 fresh and salt, contains numerous chemicals and 

 organisms capable of reducing noxious substances 

 to harmless ones, and although dilution itself is 

 of tremendous value, local concentrations of dan- 

 gerous toxicity have always been a potential hazard, 

 the vagaries of currents and flow being what they 

 are. The ability of some organisms used for food 

 by man to tolerate and store poisons at levels of 

 concentration serious or even lethal to man is well- 

 known. Shellfish are particularly important, being 

 susceptible as well to toxic substances not produced 

 by man. Oceanographic studies concerned with 

 the effects on estuarine and inshore waters from 

 the disposal of municipal and industrial wastes 

 have been conducted for years by the Public Health 

 Service and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, 

 and where they concern inshore marine foods this 

 work is done in close cooperation with the states. 

 These traditional programs have recently as- 

 sumed much greater importance due to the vast 

 increase of population, and the consequent rising 



2. CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES 

 HELD IN COMMON 



In 1947, the Supreme Court decided that the 

 Federal Government and not the State of Calif- 

 ornia had title to the submerged lands ofT the 

 coasts of the United States. This decision and the 

 two that quickly followed against Louisiana and 

 Texas ended the uncertainty over rights which 

 had hampered the oil industry in its efforts to 

 exploit these areas. 



Since then the oil companies have invested 

 approximately $3.5 billion in exploratory drill- 

 ings along the continental shelves. Oil reserves 

 offshore are far from being estimated. Their 

 studies have largely been confined to areas of 

 probable oil occurrence. 



The mineral resources of the sea come next to 

 mind. Although the sea contains dissolved min- 

 erals in nearly astronomical quantities, their 

 dilution is so extreme that extraction is both 

 difficult and expensive. Furthermore, most can 

 be found in adequate amounts and with sufficient 

 ease on land. Consequently, with the exception of 

 a few minerals such as bromine and magnesium, 

 neither industry nor the Federal Government has 

 taken much interest in developing oceanic sources. 

 Now, however, the picture is beginning to change. 

 Large deposits of nodules rich in manganese, 

 nickel, and cobalt, which were stumbled across 



