159 



ductior.: a wide vnription in the transparoncT of the wat?r; and a. 

 v/ide variety in the nature of tie sediments that clothe the sea 

 floor. The faunal p-^ovinces accessihle are correspondinf-:;! y varied, 

 both as to their hTthymetric nnd ns to their thermal relationships: 

 while ahundnnt mrteir^irl of a are-'t variet-^' of "nimnl rnd plsnt 

 species, planktonic as well as feottom dwelling, can easily he ob- 

 tained, including the pelagic egas and larvae of many fishes. In 

 fact, there is hardl^'' 9n oceanogrnphlc problem tbit cannot be hope- 

 fully attacked here, except those associated either with tie t:^op- 

 ica] shallows, vith the Arctic ice, or with mid-oceanic conditions: 

 for tliese substations r.re needed. 



The sector in nuestion also meets t'-^e practical requirem.en'^s 

 of lyj.ng ontside f-^e tropical hurricane belt, bu^ with- the onen 

 sea ice-free in all seasons ond witb mony of the h'^rbors also 'cept 

 ice-free b"" the stronp- tides, while the weather often allows ocean- 

 ographic work to be carried on from smn 11 craft even in wi^^ter, ^s 

 has -^Ire."'"]-^" been proven b- experience. 



The sel.ecticn of tbe m.ost f 'ivo."''rble site v;ithin tbe C"pe Ood- 

 P'^alifaz sector wonld n.^tura.lly be determined by practical and in- 

 tellectu'^] considerations in combjmtion. 3n the wbole t^'^ese favor 

 the vicinit"'- of Poston for the following rensons; - (1) One of the 

 most neorly complete collections of oceanof';r'". phic literature is 

 concentrated in tbe libraries of i^oston nnd of Cambridge: (2) Two 

 of thie most im.portant D.nstitutions now active in Oceanography, naive- 

 ly,', the "/oods Hole Laboratory of the U. 3. Bureau of Fisheries, and 

 the Museum, of Comp"r'',tive Zoology are within co^-'venient reach: also 

 the Marine Eiolorical Laborator'^- at ^Voods Hole which (whi'e not 

 .'ivowedly oceanographic in purpose) hns long been f'^e headqunrters 

 for marine biolog-^' on the Atlantic copst of North America; (3) The 

 chemical, nh^'sic^l, geological, nnd mineraloe":ic^]- 1 "bcrntorles , al- 

 so the Mathem.atic departments of Harvard University ^nd o'^' the liass- 

 achusetts Institute of Technolog" are conveniently available for 

 consultption nnd assistonce: (4) The mass landings of m^an'^ species 

 of seti fish in the grert fishing ports of Boston and Gloucester 

 would provide tiie raw data for a wide variety of fisherAT" studies 

 that conld j~-'-rd]a: be obtained in 8ny different v/av. 



^''^Tnile r.n oce^nogrr phic^l institution could be successfully and 

 prof itabl"^'- maintained at am- suitable site rround t>e const"' ines of 

 the Gulf of f'Inine, of the Bav of Fn.nd-^^, or of outer 'lova Scotia, the 

 choice of the precise site would naturrll-.' be governed b^^ practicnl 

 consideratio-'-'s to be weighed nt the proper time, suc'-^, for instance, 

 a convenient location for f"e station's own docks, good, harborage, 

 nearness to t'^e open sea. 



The fact that t}ie Mnrine Biological Laboratorv and the Labora- 

 tory of t'^e United StatesBnreau of Fisheries are already located rt 

 Woods Hole is a stronp; nrgument for also locating the proTDOsed in- 

 stitution +-here. And the gra^t nnd obvious adv^'ntagos of close 

 associntion with these centers of scientific activity seem to V's to 

 outwelp'h the ob.ioction to iVoods j'olo '^s the site, fiat migi-'t be ur- 

 ged on' the score of dlstan-^e from the open sen, rnd of isolation in 

 winter. 



