82. How much do scientists really know about the oceans? 



Every question answered about the oceans leads to additional ques- 

 tions that demand answers, so it can safely be said that our present 

 knowledge is very small. 



Charting of the ocean floor is one thing that can be expressed in per- 

 centage. Not more than five percent of the world's ocean floor has been 

 charted with any degree of reliability and most of this was done during 

 the International Geophysical Year (1957-58). 



Our ability to predict the ocean environment is still small and largely 

 restricted to predicting wave height and conditions for sound trans- 

 mission. 



Among the unanswered questions are the following: 



Where can more fish for food be found? The Southern Hemisphere 

 is largely unexploited. 



Are there still unknown animals in the sea? The coelecanth (question 

 80) was unknown except as fossils until 1938. 



Will "farming" the ocean increase our food supply without disturb- 

 ing the balance of nature? 



Were the Eastern and Western Hemispheres split apart millions of 

 years ago as the contours of their present shorelines suggest? 



What causes the lateral meanders in the path of the Gulf Stream? 



How much pollution, radioactive and other, can the sea dissipate 

 without turning into a "desert"? 



Can a practical method of using plankton for food be found? 



And, perhaps most important, can the nations of the world learn to 

 use the ocean and its resources cooperatively? There have been many 

 disputes overfishing rights; disputes over mineral rights on the continen- 

 tal shelves will follow unless international agreements are made and 

 adhered to. 



Coombs, Charles 



Deep-Sea World, William iVIorrow and Company, 1966. 

 Pell, Claiborne (Senator) 



Challenge of the Seven Seas, William Morrow and Company, 1966. 

 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 



Research in the Sea, 1967. 



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