446 
on the ocean bottom many years ago, and some 
minerals extractable from sea water have assumed 
more importance. 
The Bureau of Mines now intends to initiate 
both a comprehensive research program on the 
extraction of dissolved chemicals and a program 
to develop and explore sources on and beneath 
the ocean floor. This program of exploration, to 
begin most logically with the continental shelves 
(and the Great Lakes) where the water is only a 
few hundred feet deep and the geology similar 
to that of the continents, summons up thoughts 
of such past expeditions into the unknown, or 
only partly known, as the Lewis and Clark Ex- 
pedition. Although much can be done by sampling 
and surveying from specially equipped surface 
vessels, when the few tens of miles of the shallow 
continental shelves are left behind for the vast 
abyssal plains where the water is two or three 
miles deep and the geology is unlike that ever 
before seen, efficient exploration will necessitate 
man’s actually getting down and looking around. 
The Bureau of Mines is, therefore, considering 
the development of a manned deep submersible 
to supplement its other exploratory techniques. 
This submersible is to be shared with the Bureau 
of Commercial Fisheries and possibly other agen- 
cies. The landscapes seen for the first time by 
these underwater explorers can hardly help but 
produce strange and perhaps awesome exper- 
lences. 
The Geological Survey will also participate in 
developing information on and maps of mineral 
resources. 
Another resource which will always be held in 
common is the recreational value of the sea. 
Sport fishing and boating have been the tradi- 
tional forms of recreation at sea just as the beach 
areas have been for swimming. To these tradi- 
tional forms of ocean or oceanside recreation, 
SCUBA diving and underwater exploration in 
small submersibles and motorized underwater 
scooters have recently been added or are in pros- 
pect. As yet, it is not clear what needs to be done 
not already in hand by the various federal agen- 
cies long active on behalf of seagoing or seaside 
recreation. As is well-known, the Bureau of Sport 
Fisheries and Wildlife is engaged in game fish re- 
search; the Geological Survey, the Beach Erosion 
Board, and the Coast and Geodetic Survey provide 
data and studies for the use of oceanside recrea- 
tion industries; and the National Park Service, 
13 
NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM—1965 : 
which has lately become interested in underwater 
parks and nature trails for skindivers, maintains 
and operates public beaches and recreation areas 
while the Coast Guard and the Weather Bureau 
provide storm warning and rescue services. 
Cultural patterns in the U.S. will continue to 
change with the rapid growth expected in the 
recreational industry. Private developments will be 
watched for indications of the need for future 
government activities on their behalf and on be- 
half of the conservation of resources themselves. 
In 1963, about two percent of the oceanographic 
budget was considered to support this goal. This 
factor should double in the decade ahead. 
E. Protecting Life and Property Ashore; 
Insuring the Safety of Operations at Sea 
1. PROTECTING LIFE AND 
PROPERTY ASHORE 
Those living near a seacoast are all too well 
aware of the hazard to life and property repre- 
sented by a storm at sea. Hurricanes are most 
likely in late summer and early fall, but extra- 
tropical storms may strike our Atlantic and Gulf 
Coasts at any season, sometimes with immense 
damage. Although the high winds associated with 
these storms can sometimes do great and freakish 
damage, it is the water which is the greatest threat. 
Tides sometimes run many feet higher than nor- 
mal as so-called “storm surges” associated with the 
storm' moving along the coast. Huge waves 
whipped up by the wind slam into shore, imposing 
forces measured in the thousands of tons against 
beaches, piers, and breakwaters with all the im- 
pact of a sequence of freight trains. 
Both prediction and protection are important 
for dealing with these hazards. The Army Corps 
of Engineers through its Beach Erosion Board, 
conducts studies on the numerous factors which 
influence the way and amount waves and cur- 
rents affect the coasts, including the modification 
of these effects by protective installations. The 
Weather Bureau not only attempts constandy to 
improve its ability to locate and predict the 
movement of such storms but also to predict more 
accurately the seas that they generate. That this 
last problem is difficult and only partially solved 
can be appreciated when it is realized that wind- . 
generated waves run constantly away from the 
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