520 NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



the solid earth below and at the borders — yes ; even the radiation from 

 the sun which has an enormous effect. 



To understand these things requires research — research that entails 

 most of the basic sciences, in all their various ramifications. In a very- 

 complex way the laws of these fundamental sciences act as they have 

 acted through the ages to determine the structure of the oceans' bot- 

 toms, the composition of its waters, the currents that flow within it, 

 the life with which it teems and, indeed, all of the characteristics and 

 actions of the ocean systems. 



These things must be studied from the minute to the grand scale, 

 usually in many places, from the Equator to the polar regions, from 

 the shoreline to the deepest oceans. Countless experiments must be 

 done, countless measurements must be made, every advantage must be 

 taken of modem techniques not only in the experimental sense but 

 also in the use of modern computers and other methods of analysis. 



Only through such methods can we understand how the ocean and 

 its bottoms are structured ; how the water reacts with its surroundings, 

 and under what conditions ; how the living beings exist and propagate 

 in short, how the entire system behaves and why it behaves that way. 



Within the Federal Government, this area has been supported pri- 

 marily by the Office of Naval Research and the National Science 

 Foundation, but it is also true that agencies such as the Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries, the Geological Survey, the Environmental 

 Sciences Administration, the Public Health Service, the Atomic En- 

 ergy Commission and others are, and should be active in research in 

 order to carry out their own missions relating to the sea. 



Second, the field of exploration and survey. In contrast to re- 

 search which attempts to understand the various parameters and proc- 

 esses in typical situations, exploration and surveying is directed at 

 developing a description of the situation at each and every place of 

 interest. It ranges from charting the bottom, its topography and its 

 composition, through identifying the various water masses and cur- 

 rent and determining their chemical, geological, and biological param- 

 eters and to the behavior of the atmosphere over the various parts of 

 the sea. 



Such activities have, of course, existed since man first had his contact 

 with the sea, especially in costal waters and other areas of interest to 

 shipping. In recent times, activities have increased in intensity and 

 have been placed on a much more systematic basis. But much more 

 needs to be done. 



Clearly, there is a close interaction between research and explora- 

 tion. Research scientists depend upon, surveys to know where to go 

 to find the situations that they wish to study. Sometimes, of course, 

 they must make surveys themselves. Conversely those who explore and 

 survey must understand the underlying science in order to do their job 

 effectively and to optimize their ability to infer the situation from a 

 minimum of measurements. Indeed, the activities overlap and no 

 sharp line can be drawn between them. 



Most of the surveying is in the province of such agencies as the 

 Naval Oceanographic Office, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Geo- 

 logical Survey and, in the realm of food, of the Bureau of Fisheries. 

 Increasingly the Public Health Service and the Atomic Energy Com- 

 mission have had an interest, concerned as they are with problems of 



