99 



studies carried on at the Institution's Lalooretory, summarized on 

 pase 



In ooop-ration with th-i United States Lighthouse Service-, with 

 the United States (.'cast and G.odstic Survey, with the United States 

 Navy > with comm-rojal vsi^se'is running on various routes, and with 

 private yacht owners, the Institution is able to jxpand the work done 

 from its own vessel by the colleot'icn oi extensive series of surface 

 temperatures and water Barr.pl. S; both at shore stations and widespread 

 over the north and south Faoific. Kcv? successful this auxilli?jry 

 program has proved is me.de clci-.r by the receipt of no less than 

 2.785 water samples (salinity deteimined. at the La Jolla laboratories), 

 and 12,237 readings of tempe-a-curos during the year 1937-1928 (report 

 of the Comimittee on Suoraarine Configuration and Oceanic Circulation 

 of the National Research Council for 19^8,) The Institution's 

 efforts represent, in fact, the most successful project of this sort 

 yet undertaken by any ft.;iierican agency since the days of Maury. 



Further north, the California coast is now seeing the birth of a 

 new project, in the exploration of the oceanic biology of Monterey 

 Bay and of its offing, by short cruiees throuf?:h the joint efforts of 

 the California Fish and Game Commission and of the Hopkins Marine 

 Station. It is yet too early to do more than point out that a work- 

 ing agreement has oeen arrived at, that special attention is being 

 paid to the biological side, and that the observations are to be 

 taken periodically from one of the Patrol boats of the Commission at 

 standard stations. 



The Friday Harbor Station of the University of TJashington is the 

 site of increasing oceanographic activity, especially in chemical 

 problems, in ocean Physics, and in studies of the Plankton. Important 

 physico-chemical observations and plankton studies are now regularly 

 obtained in the neighborhood of the r-acific Biological Station of the 

 Biological Board of Canadn at Nanairao, 3. C. , (jointly with the 

 University of British Columbia) on a considerable scale, as more 

 fully described below (pagelC?.). knd while no attempt has yet been 

 made to ..extend these out into the oceanic basin off this sector of 

 the Pacific coast, the International Fisheries Commission, op-rating 

 under treaty oetween Canada and the United States, has undertaken a 

 program of sub-surface sections off the A,laskan coast (supplem=!nted 

 by current measurements) to serve as the basis of dynamic calcula- 

 tions of the movements of sub-durfa^je waters in connection with its 

 studies of the life history of the halibut. This last is an isolated 

 project with no assurance of its continuance. But the thoroughness 

 of the work, not only in ocean physics but especially in its biologi- 

 cal aspects, make it a most important contribution to our knowledge 

 of the natural economy of the northwestern pacific. 



The topographic explorations of the United States Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey, along the two coasts of the United States, and in 

 the Hawaiian and Philippine Archipelagoes, fall in a different 

 category. Here the individual cruises are units in a continuing 

 program, but various projects are successively attacked. o"':f or.c part 

 of the coast or another as need arises. In the fields covered, 

 (tidal studies and hydrographic surveys) the sea-work of the Ciarvey 

 sets the standard. 



It is not necessary to mention here in detail the occasio-xol 



