241 



I am pleased to report that the global expedition of the Ocean- 

 ographer^ another example of interagency and international coopera- 

 tion, has been extraordinarily successful. The Oceanographer^ commis- 

 sioned" by President Johnson on July 13, 1966, today is working in 

 the Tasman Sea, between Sydney, Australia and Wellington, Kew 

 Zealand. By the time she reaches her home port, Seattle, Wash., she 

 will have had on board as participants or observers, some 50 foreign 

 scientists from 16 countries, 11 scientists from other Federal agencies^ 

 and 11 scientists from seven U.S. universities. This ship, and its sister 

 ship, the Discoverer^ are the newest of this Nation's seagoing research 

 vessels. Both have the most modern equipment for studying the marine 

 environment. The Oceanographer''s research results have been signif- 

 icant. They include : 



1. A new submarine canyon has been discovered, mapped, and 

 sampled in the Andaman Sea. 



2. Upwelling of deep water off the west coast of India has been 

 related to the onset of the monsoon. 



3. A new deep pool of hot water in the Red Sea has been discovered 

 and sampled. 



4. A new fracture zone in the Atlantic, postulated on the basis of 

 earthquake epicenters has been discovered and mapped. 



In Alaska, ESSA and the Geological Survey have joined to map 

 areas necessary to obtaining an inventory of heavy metals on the 

 northern Bering Sea Continental Shelf. We are also cooperating in 

 studying lava flows on the submerged slopes of Pacific islands. Co- 

 operative mapping is undertaken in conjunction with the Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries. One of the major instances of interagency co- 

 operation is the joint program of ESSA and the Navy known as 

 Project Stormfury, which seeks to understand the processes that may 

 lead to the modification of hurricanes at sea. 



The Houston, Tex., Spaceflight Meteorology Group of the Weather 

 Bureau provides NASA with meteorological and sea-State informa- 

 tion in support of NASA's manned spaceflight programs. 



As our new hydrographic and oceanographic fleet comes into oper- 

 ation, and with the aid of aircraft, buoys, satellites, and other plat- 

 forms, we expect to conduct many more multipurpose, multiagency 

 investigations, all directed toward the acquisition of information on 

 the oceans. We have established an Advisory Board for Ship Time 

 Allocation to evaluate proposals from other agencies and from uni- 

 versities which desire to avail themselves of the capabilities of our 

 ships for their specific marine investigations. 



PLANS 



I have sketched in broad scale our basic service programs in the 

 marine environment and the manner in which they are essential to any 

 comprehensive national program to develop marine resources and use 

 the seas in many other ways. They are extensive, they are vital to the 

 Nation, they are functioning well within the range of present knowl- 

 edge and available resources. They are by no means perfect and by no 

 means complete. I should like to tell you now of plans to improve 

 them. 



