124 



region, with special reTerence to fie interrelationships of the Lab- 

 rador and G-i-'lf Stream currents there. And tv^is oceanographic pro- 

 gram has ever since heen continued as a regul:ir p^rt of f^.e routine 

 duty of the Coast Gunrd. 



On the Patrol t^^.e Coast Gu-; rd has cooperated with the Hydro- 

 graphic Office, and has offered the hospitality of its s^-^ips to re- 

 presentatives o^ the Wenf-er Bureau, of the TJ. S. Bureau of Fisher- 

 ies and of t^' e Museum of Comparritive Zoology, arranging for the 

 installation of the necesn'-'rv meteorological instrum-=^nts , nnd add- 

 ing t>-'0 co]lectpon of plnnhton to its regular program. ^ooperntion 

 in wavs such as these, f^8t do not interfere with the practical 

 duties of the P'^trol, can ho depended upon in t'^'-e future. But f^is 

 will he limited to f'-e Grand Pan'-s region and to t^'O season of ice 

 menace (usually April to June), while the constant necessity- of de- 

 voting the energies O''^ the Patrol to the practical tasks of" loc.-^t- 

 ing the position of f!-'e ice and of broadcasting warnings to s''iip- 

 ning means that oceanogr'3phic ohserv.itions can be taken onl""" as cir- 

 cumstnnces permit. 



The demands on the Coast Gu, rd for the ser-'ices of its vessels 

 in the various fields over which its activities "re now. spread nre 

 so insistent th;^t there is no possibility of its devoting a ship 

 primaril7/ to scientific researches. Neither do the cruises of its 

 cut't'ers or patrol boats (except those on Ice Patrol) follow sche- 

 dules or tracks regular enough for tiie development of a prom.ising 

 program of incidentnl observations (on the temperaturt^ of the ^vater, 

 etc.) of the sorts that offer such attractive possibilities in the 

 case of the Tlav^f, the Shipping Board, and Lighthouse Service. The 

 barrier in this case is not onlj the cost of operating the cutter 

 on special service, but, more serious, the impossibility of with- 

 drowi.ng ships or personnel from their primnr:: duties. But whatever 

 ioint or independent researches this service can undertake will be 

 prosecuted with first-class efficiencv b-^'- its big], ly tr?ined com- 

 missioned nersonnel. 



And tho Coast Guard.' s experience i.n f^e operation of t^'^e Ice 

 Pi^trol, with the presence in the service of a trained nnd exper- 

 ienced phvsical oceanographer enable it to render direct and pract- 

 ical advisor7f service in the organiznti.on of oceanographic cruises, 

 as wall as in th-} management of researci" vessels generally. 



3. United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. 



Certain restricted lines 01" oceanographic researc''^ occuny an 

 imnortant place in t'^^e regular functions of ft^is Bureau. 



The m--'-rine activities of the U. S. Const and Geodetic Survev 

 nre, by stntute, devoted c^^iefly to (a) hydrographic surveys o-^ the 

 coast lines end slopes of the United State? and dependencies for the 

 purpose of cartography: and (b) to the study of tidal rnd ocean 

 currents as these affect shipplnc:. 



The oceanographic field of thi s Surve"^'" is t'-^us much narrower 

 than that of the Bureau of Fisheries. Put within this field it 

 constantly cr. rriss on important oricrinal researches, snd in the 



