MARINE SCIENCE 9 



for the construction of three survey ships of two thousand tons displace- 

 ment ; 



for the construction of one research ship of three hundred-tons displace- 

 ment ; 



for operations of basic research ships in excess of present operating costs 

 for such ship operations: Provided, however. That the operating costs of 

 new one thousand two hundred to one thousand five hundred-ton research 

 ships not exceed $420,000 each per annum ; that that of the two thousand 

 to three thousand-ton ships not exceed $700,000 each per annum, and that 

 of the five hundred-ton ships not exceed $250,000 each per annum ; 



for construction of new shore facilities for basic research ; 



for basic research operations other than ships ; 



for construction of new shore facilities for survey work ; 



for engineering needs for ocean exploration and research which may in- 

 clude bathyscaphs and other manned submersibles to be used for research, 

 manned and unmanned buoys, icebreakers and submarines modified or 

 converted for scientific use, acoustic telemetering devices, current meters, 

 direct density measuring devices, cameras and underwater television, seismic 

 equipment, turbulence measuring devices, biological sampling devices, pre- 

 cision salinometers, precision echo sounders, towed temperature recorders, 

 magnetometers and other Instruments and laboratory equipment for oceano- 

 graphic research ; and 



for establishing a program of scholarships for selected students as au- 

 thorized in section 13(f) of this Act: Provided, however, That costs to the 

 Department of the Navy of these fellowships not exceed $300,000 per annum. 



Sec. 15. (a) Nothing in this Act shall operate to limit, restrict, or otherwise 

 interfere with carrying out any work programed prior to enactment. 



(b) All appropriations authorized in this Act shall be in addition to other 

 appropriations provided for the various departments, agencies, bureaus, and 

 oflSees to carry out their duties under law. 



The Chairmajs^ This is the first of several hearings to weigh the 

 importance of the oceans and tlie Great Lakes to our security, welfare, 

 and economy ; the adequacy of our scientific knowledge of these deep 

 waters, and what, if it is not adequate, we should do about it. 



Except for the 28-mile thread of land at the Isthmus of Panama we 

 are literally living on an island — a continental island less than 5 

 percent of the earth's surface. 



We share this island Avith Canada, Mexico, and the small Central 

 American Republics, and its total population is less than 10 percent of 

 that of the world. 



Outside the continental island we call North America the closest 

 nation to us is not England, or Iceland, or France, or even Cuba. 

 It is Soviet Russia which at its nearest mainland point is only 53 

 miles from our 49th State. No nation of the free world except Canada 

 and Mexico is that close. 



Our ocean coastline is 12,255 miles long, and that of Canada is even 

 longer. We are the only nations in the world with three oceans wash- 

 ing our shores, a circumstance that in this scientific age can prove 

 either a tremendous asset or a fearsome menace. 



The oceans are deep, dark, and mysterious. It has been fre- 

 quently said that we know less about the 71 percent of earth's sur- 

 face which they cover than we know about the back side of the moon. 



Our witnesses today are scientists. They are members of the Com- 

 mittee on Oceanography of the National Academy of Sciences or of 

 special panels of the committee. 



Collectively they perhaps know more about the oceans than any 

 similar group of scientists that could be assembled at one time in the 

 United States. 



