594 NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPmC PROGKAM LEGISLATION 



with the developers of devices and tools for collection and assists research in 

 such developments. 



Recently it has become feasible to consider the use of undersea vehicles for 

 evaluation of subsurface populations of organisms and sediments. Scientists 

 from the Institution have participated in familiarization and research dives of 

 Electric Boat's vehicle Asherah (Star II) and of Cousteau's Diving Saucer. 



Requests have been made for experience with Alvin, Aluminaut, Trieste II, 

 and other existing vehicles as well as for the opportunity to use Seabed I and 

 Seabed II facilities of the Navy as diving bases for marine biological research. 

 It has been reasonably well established that utilization of such facilities for 

 research is most helpful to biologists and geologists and geophysicists ; all are 

 within the direct interest and responsibilities of the Institution. The use of these 

 vehicles and similar new devices is restricted only by funding limits. 



Although the above responsibilities are important, the strength of the Institu- 

 tion lies in its unique competence to gain scientific information from mixed, 

 multiple collections of miscellaneous specimens from the environment. The 

 Institution makes a necessary and basic contribution to any program concerned 

 with the biology and geology of the oceans by establishing the identity of the 

 specimen collected. It provides unique opportunities for the establishment of a 

 program of environmental forecasting by focusing attention of mathematicians 

 on the collections. 



This function, of course, is not restricted to the marine field. The collections 

 of the Institution are the largest body of reference materials in the world. Some- 

 thing in the order of 30 millions of names have been given to biological specimens. 

 The tedious but essential job of applying the proper name to an unknown speci- 

 men is a major effort of the Museum of Natural History. Specimens collected 

 are named and arranged for the convenient reference of scientists and laymen. 

 New objects are described and named, compared with older ones and groiTped 

 for convenience and accessibility. Basic premises are developed concerning the 

 relationships of superficially different organisms. Evolutionary trends are 

 described and predicted. 



Scientists in the Institution produce field guides and monographs of the 

 marine organisms for use in related biological research. Organisms and sedi- 

 ments are studied as they provide information on the abundance of resources 

 for the Bureaus of Commercial Fisheries, Sports Fisheries and Wildlife, Mines, 

 Geological Survey, Parks, and Recreation of the Department of the Interior. 

 The organismal and sedimentary information produced in the Institution is 

 basic to the mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 

 its search for and predictions of life and conditions on other planets and of 

 survival of life and conditions on other planets and of survival of life support 

 systems on interplanetary missions. 



Studies of pollution of the seas by the Public Health Service and the National 

 Institutes of Health rest on knowledge of species being obtained by Institution 

 scientists. The Institution studies and stores the pre- and post-Bikini collec- 

 tions of the Navy and the Atomic Energy Commission and it must provide spe- 

 cies information for critical tests of environmental pollution by fallout, nuclear 

 explosions, and the operations of nuclear stations, and vehicles. 



Sound propagation studies of the Navy's Bureau of Ships, Oceanographic 

 Office and Office of Naval Research depend on knowledge of biological species 

 taken from the reference collections, and monographs of the Institution. Foul- 

 ing and bioluminescence studies basic to the Office of Naval Research, the Mari- 

 time Administration, the Coast Guard, the Coast and Geodetic Survey require 

 support and identifications by the Institution. 



Basic biological and geological research of all agencies of the Federal Govern- 

 ment as well as of universities and all private agencies depend to a great degree 

 on the adequacy of reference collections in the Institution and the ability to 

 provide fundamental statements of the relative abundances of organisms in all 

 parts of the world ocean. Only in the National Museum and its State, munici- 

 pal, and private equivalents is provision made for the long-term maintenance of 

 collections accessible for comparative and cooperative research. This obvious 

 function requires a continuing viable collection-oriented research effort. 



In organizing the Institution for expanded modern marine research full con- 

 sideration was given to the support needs of other agencies, and the overall 

 status of biological programing in the Interagency Committee on Oceanography 

 in which the Institution maintains membership. 



Through its membership in the ICO and chairmanship of the ICO research 

 panel, the Institution has been able to anticipate the needs and become aware of 



