SEA GRANT COLLEGES 199 



However, since advancing: this idea, and as was pointed out today, 

 the very witness from the Smithsonian Institution emphasized that 

 their interest was in basic research and the executive department's 

 witnesses seem to prefer the NSF as the administering agency. 



I have a very open mind on this subject. I just thought the Smith- 

 sonian Institution would be a logical place, but I must say the witness 

 from them, to a certain degree, refuted his own premise, I thought, in 

 liis continuous emphasis upon basic research, and also in his verbal 

 testimony, afterwards. 



What are your thoughts on that. Dean Spilhaus ? 



Dr. Spilhaus. My thoughts are this. I think, leaving apart the 

 discussion of the two agencies in question at the moment, the most im- 

 portant thing is that pending the other excellent complementary 

 legislation that is in Congress today on oceanography, whatever 

 agency we choose, we should choose it as the administering agency for 

 the time being and not commit the other legislation to something. 



On this, I would say about the National Science Foundation and the 

 Smithsonian — and with full admiration for the work they do — -that 

 both are largely turned toward pure science, whereas our focus is the 

 other way. 



But having said this, I would say that there is no reason whatever 

 why, given the charge, their competent people could not turn their 

 sights to the objective of this bill, which is the drawing out of science 

 and the exploitation of the sea. 



Senator Pell. If, as the consensus seems to be, the NSF should 

 handle it at this time, what is your thinking with regard to the idea 

 of turning the program over, the administration of it, over to the 

 eventual oceanological agency? As it turns out, maybe it is a wet 

 NASA — we pray not — or some other Parkinsonian structure that will 

 be created that v/ill look toward developments. 



Dr. Spilhaus. It was with that in mind that I said the responsi- 

 bility should be given to an agency for the time being. I believe as 

 our engineering exploitation of the sea proceeds, there will need to be 

 some kind of what I have called a sea engineering agency, SEA, in 

 Government to which industry can come, a central agency for the 

 peaceful exploitation of the sea. 



This engnieering agenc}^ need not interfere with the present various 

 agencies that support marine research and science. But when you do 

 big engineering, as I envisage we will be doing, I think we will 

 need a central agency in Washington, and the pending legislation, 

 other than your own bill, Senator, is pointed in this direction. So 

 that, therefore, whatever agency we choose, we should have in the 

 back of our minds and the}' should realize that they will turn it over 

 when this new arrangement in Government comes to fruition. 



Senator Pell. What we are talking about here is the very practical 

 kind of project, as we suggested yesterday, to get young felloMs when 

 they finish high school to spend a couple of years in technical training 

 and go aboard fishing fleets, to get proper use of seaweed, to help 

 mining underneath the surface of the sea, and to do that, I think we 

 want to get away from pure science because the money we are talkino- 

 about is but a di'op in the bucket when it comes to jmre science, but it 

 could help very much in the development of teclniical training. 



A couple of other questions in behalf of the minority. First, Senator 

 Murphy has asked, what do you think of the idea of a floating school 



