96 



coilecticn of bottom sodirr. -nts, and sp-3cial study of th^^rraal inter- 

 c;i<ing-t: bctwBen the surf'icc of the s-: a 3nd th^ or^rlying air. The 

 biological progrem, as d'->scrlbf..d by thj biologist of tha -;xpjdition5 

 is to b: diri'Ctsd chiefly to«y''rd the study of the chemical and 

 pn^'sical environm .nt of th;- plankton, sind of some of tha physiologi- 

 cal conditions of exist :,ncc of individu-^l groups of animals, for 

 which fi -Id observations c?n be linked with laboratory experiments. 

 Other collections -vill also be made as opportunity off.rs. 



Whether this expedition is to be the precursor of continued 

 activities in the oceanographic field by the Carnegie Institution of 

 "Jaohington, it is too early to prophesy. 



' The incentive for the Davis Strait expedition of the Coast Guard, 

 1930, just mentioned, was fundamentally economic: to gain better 

 understanding of the ocean currents that are responsible for the ice 

 menace to vessels passing the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and so to 

 better the actual patrol. But the fact that to attain this end it 

 was thought necessary to apply the most rigorous technique of modern 

 Oceanography to a dynamic study of the area in Question proves the 

 growing appreciation in A,merica of the practical value of marine 

 researches. A. general dynamic exploration of the oceanic triangle 

 Hatteras-Bermuda-Nova Scotia during the summer of 1937, and a traverse 

 of the North atlantic during the sumra-r of 1938 under the auspices of 

 the Lluseura of Comparative Zoology, extend this method of attack to 

 other areas, and link up with similar cruises from "2urope. 



The "Arcturus" ExtJedition of the New York Zoological Socijty to 

 th-- Sarcrasso Sea and the Galapas-oes region in 1935, by contrast, 

 revived the more discursive methods of the past era, while it is too 

 early to comment on the explorations around Bermuda carried on by 

 the Society luring summer of 1939. 



F-rtile, however, though such expeditions may be, it is by the 

 method of periodic surveys of definite areas, or by continuous 

 attack on definitely limited problems, th^t Oceanography in American 

 waters is most rapidly advancing at present, and may be sxpected most 

 rapidly to dev-lop in the futur^j. This phase is perhaps best pre- 

 sented on a geographic basis. 



Following the North-jastern American shelf, from the Artie south- 

 ward, we find first, the Canadian Hydrographic S-rvice obtaining 

 physical data, and measurements of magnetic variation in Hudson Bay 

 and straits; likewise off the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawr^.-nc,.. 

 In Newfoundland, the program of the pr-^sent government includes 

 support of scientific work in connection with the Fisheries. But 

 work has not yet b-en und^^rtaken th^re on a serious scale. 



The International Icc Patrol op-rated by the U. S. Go^ist Guard 

 yearly carries out a detailed dynamic survey of the circulcition of 

 the wat-.r-mass;s in the vicinity of the Grand Banks, /dth the severely 

 practical aim of guarding shipping from th; ice menace;. Here the 

 most advanced methods of dynam.ic oceanography are put to practical 

 use in plotting the periodic variations in the direction and velocity 

 of th'.r flow that carries floating bergs, and it is here, at the hand^ 

 of the U. S. Coast Guard, that the soundness of this method of attack 

 has received its m.ost impressive confirmation. The recent extension 

 of this survey northv/ard to the narrows of Davis Strait, as mientioned 



