the feasibility of establishing photo synthetic gas exchanges for use 

 aboard submarines. 



6. Artificial gills: As described in paragraph five above, the 

 Navy is interested in developing improved mecheuiisms for main- 

 taining an adequate atmosphere aboard a submarine. Many types of 

 large marine animals dwell in the deep ocean which is supposedly 

 very poor in dissolved oxygen content. Nevertheless, these forms 

 are able to thrive in this environment. This suggests that the or- 

 ganisms may have low metabolic requirements or highly efficient 

 gas exchange mechanisms for extracting oxygen from the water and 

 disposing of carbon dioxide back into the water. Efforts are being 

 made to characterize these systems to the point where it would be 

 possible to determine their value as a basis for the development of 

 artificial gills. 



7. Utilization of marine biological products: It has been ob- 

 served that certain marine animals and plants produce substances 

 which either repel other forms or inhibit their normal physiological 

 activities. Many of these substances are being collected and examin- 

 ed in terms of their biochennical composition. Also, the physiologi- 

 cal and pharmacological characteristics are being investigated. Ul- 

 timately, it is hoped that some of these biologically active substances 

 will prove to be of practical value as shark repellents or deterrents, 

 as antibiotics, as marine preservatives, as well as in other ways of 

 interest to the Navy. 



8. Utilization of marine animals and plants in naval operations 

 (classified). 



Now that we have considered the Navy's interests in hydrobio- 

 logical research as well as the nature and scope of the Hydrobiology 

 Program, let us review some of the requirements for maintaining 

 an optimum level of scientific activity in this field. In general there 

 are two requirements: 



1. The essential need to maintain a free research atmosphere 

 unfettered by "kibitzing" from the sponsoring organization: At 

 first hand this concept may appear as a contradiction of the state- 

 ments previously presented in this paper. However, if we examine 

 the modus operandi of the Hydrobiology Program, we find that it is 

 quite in harmony with this concept. The design and plans for this 

 program represent the exclusive responsibility of the Office of 

 Naval Research, i.e. , the general mosaic of the research needs 

 and objectives are established and maintained by the Office of Naval 

 Research. However, once the objectives are established, the indivi- 

 dual investigations are selected and activated from a large number of 

 iinsolicited proposals received from dedicated scientists located for 



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