202 MARINE SCIENCE 
for minerals are evident. Further research will undoubtedly disclose additional 
uSes. 
Knowledge of the oceans is more than a matter of curiosity. Our very survival 
may hinge upon it. Although understanding of our marine environment and 
maps of the ocean floor would afford to our military forces a demonstrable ad- 
vantage, we have thus far neglected oceanography. We do not have adequate 
charts of more than 1 or 2 percent of the oceans. 
The seas also offer a wealth of nutritional resources. They already are a 
principal source of protein. They can provide many times the current food 
supply if we but learn how to garner and husband this self-renewing larder. To 
meet the vast needs of an expanding population, the bounty of the sea must be 
made more available. Within two decades, our own Nation will require over a 
million more tons of seafood than we now harvest. 
Mineral resources on land will ultimately reach their limits. But the oceans 
hold untapped sources of such basic minerals as salt, potassium and magnesium 
in virtually limitless quantities. We will be able to extract additional elements 
rom sea water, such as manganese, nickel, cobalt and other elements known to 
abound on the ocean floor, as soon as the processes are developed to make it 
economically feasible. 
To predict, and perhaps some day to control, changes in weather and climate 
is of the utmost importance to man everywhere. These changes are controlled 
to a large and yet unknown extent by what happens in the ocean. Ocean and 
atmosphere work together in a still mysterious way to determine our climate. 
Additional research is necessary to identify the facts in this interplay. 
These are some of the reasons which compel us to embark upon a national 
effort in oceanography. I am therefore requesting funds for 1962 which will 
nearly double our Government’s investment over 1961, and which will provide 
$23 million more for oceanography than what was recommended in the 1962 
budget submitted earlier. A summary and comparison of the 1960, 1961, and 
1962 budgets is contained in two tables which are enclosed with this letter. 
1. SHIP CONSTRUCTION 
The proposed program for 1962 includes $37 million for ship construction, 
an increase of $23 million over 1961. This will provide for 10 oceanographic 
vessels. Only two will replace existing ships. The others will be used to meet 
needs that have long existed in Federal agencies and other oceancgraphic in- 
stitutions conducting research for the Government. 
The present U.S. oceanographic fleet is composed of 27 research ships and 
17 survey vessels. All but two were constructed prior to the end of World 
War II; many are over 30 years old. Only two of the ships were designed 
specifically for research purposes; the remainder has been converted from a 
variety of ships designed for other uses. Thus the success of the national ocea- 
nographie program will depend heavily on the construction of the new specially 
designed vessels proposed for 1962. 
2. SHORE FACILITIES AND DATA CENTER 
Shore facilities are urgently required to provide laboratory space for analysis 
and interpretation of data and to train new oceanographers. In oceanographic 
research about. five scientists and technicians are required ashore for each sci- 
entist aboard ship. 
For 1962, $10 million is being requested for laboratories and wharfside fa- 
cilities. This represents a fivefold increase over 1961. It includes, for ex- 
ample, funds for a new Bureau of Commercial Fisheries laboratory to replace a 
40-year old structure and additional laboratory space at universities and other 
oceanographic institutions. 
An essential part of the Shore Establishment is the new National Oceano- 
graphic Data Center will begin its first full year of operation in 1962. This 
center will make available to the scientific community oceanographic data col- 
lected throughout the world. 
3. BASIC AND APPLIED RESEARCH 
The conduct of research is the central purpose of our whole national effort in 
oceanography. New ships and shore facilities are essential tools of scientific 
research, but it is the research itself that will yield new knowledge of the 
earth’s “inner space,” and new uses of the sea. The proposed program includes 
$41 million for basic and applied research in oceanography. This is an increase 
of $9 million over the 1961 level. 
