286 OCEANOGRAPHY 1961 — PHASE 3 



We have fine collections here of extreme importance in economic 

 biology as well as in the general understanding of the science. I am 

 sure that the members of the committee realize the significance, for 

 example, of the ship worm. A good many years ago, a study was made 

 of the losses occasioned by an outbreak of these worms that bore into 

 pilings and all wood that is under water. In just one large area of 

 the San Francisco (Calif.) Bay area, in a single year, it was estimated 

 the loss occasioned by these animals was $21 million. This is sig- 

 nificant, of course, but is not apparent when I just name off the classi- 

 j&cation of the objects with which we deal at the Institution. 



We also have experts in the field of sea mammals and my colleague, 

 Dr. Remington Kellog, is one of the world's greatest experts in 

 whales. He is not here this morning because he is presiding at an 

 international congress to deal with whales. The congress is being 

 held in the city of London. 



America has from its earliest days, particularly in New Eng- 

 land, been very much interested in whaling and yet whales cannot be un- 

 derstood without understanding the environment in which whales 

 live. The whole life of the sea is an organized system. We feel the 

 role of the Smithsonian is what I have called a biological Bureau of 

 Standards and is so important. It assists in all stages of untangling 

 this great complex that is the wonderful life of the sea ; the ecology, 

 to use the modern word for the organization of living things in the sea. 



At the Smithsonian we are also interested in the plants of the sea 

 and I am sure the members of the committee realize that all life in the 

 sea goes back to plants, just as all life on the land goes back to plants. 

 The study and classification of algae, seaweed, one of the forms of liv- 

 ing green plants in the sea, is fundamental to the understanding of 

 everything that lives in the fresh waters of the globe or in the sea. 

 We have been at this work at the Smithsonian for 115 years and one 

 of the first research programs undertaken by the Institution was in 

 the classification of mollusks to which I have already referred. 

 ^ We have a worldwide reputation in all of the sciences related to 

 living organisms of the sea and we have a long record of scientific 

 publications in these fields. 



We have established lines of cooperation with other Government 

 bureaus, with universities, with private research organizations, and 

 with expeditions. 



Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I may say that when we talk about 

 some of these programs in oceanography, with which I happen to be 

 familiar because of my general interest in the National Academy of 

 Sciences and in the Federal Council of Science and Technology, we 

 must not forget that people must do the work and there are not many 

 people trained in many of the subsciences with which we are concerned. 



It interested me very much when I came to the Smithsonian in my 

 present position that there may be certain sections in biology, for 

 example such as in echinoderms, where possibly there might be only 

 two or three experts in the entire world. 



Somebody will sweep into our place for a couple of months and 

 work on a special part of our collection; somebody else will come from 

 the British Museum ; somebody else will come from France. These are 

 very specialized fields, and if we are going to have a good oceano- 

 graphic program, it is necessary to foster m every possible way ad- 



