Unique oceanic research tools like 

 the manned floating instrument 

 platform FLIP and the unmanned, 

 Soli-foot seagoing platform for 

 acoustics research SPAR have been 

 built to help find ansivers to such 

 vital problems as determining the 

 propagation characteristics of 

 sound in water. 



investors in marine science include the U.S. 

 Department of Commerce, the U.S. Depart- 

 ment of Transportation, the Atomic Energj' 

 Commission, and the National Aeronautics 

 and Space Administration. 



The U.S. Na^'y and the National Science 

 Foundation have substantial programs in 

 basic marine scientific research, though most 

 naval research supports operational missions. 

 The research funded by the other Federal 



agencies is almost exclusively mission-ori- 

 ented. Except for NSF, all Federal agencies 

 supporting marine science maintain their 

 own laboratories in addition to funding ma- 

 rine research at universities and in industry. 

 Currently, 85 U.S. Government laboratories 

 exist along the coasts and Great Lakes — some 

 of them understaffed and underutilized, some 

 involved in research somewhat removed 

 from their agency's primary interests, but 



