h. Manpower. Before the recent accelera- 

 tion of oceanographic effort, recruiting of 

 oceanographers was just barely adequate to meet 

 the requirements of existing programs. It became 

 obvious that additional scientists were needed to 

 support the increased effort. As with any other 

 multi-disciplinary area of research, this required 

 training of students at the universities and at- 

 tracting into oceanography chemists, physicists, 

 geologists, biologists, mathematicians, engineers, 

 and members of other professions. At that time, 

 seven years ago, laboratory and teaching facilities 

 at the universities were inadequate to accommo- 

 date graduate students and staff. 



Since then, existing facilities have been up- 

 graded, and new ones built to permit the institu- 

 tions to enlarge both their staffs and their graduate 

 enrollments. The National Science Foundation 

 and the Office of Naval Research have been in 

 the forefront of this effort. 



2. Scientific Accomplishments Resulting 

 from Use of New Capabilities 



Broad areas of accomplishment are given 

 below as examples of recent oceanographic pro- 

 gress. They are, however, only a few of those 

 currently being documented by the Interagency 

 Committee on Oceanography. 



a. We have significantly increased our knowl- 

 edge of the distribution, kinds and adaptations of 

 the living population of the sea. We now know 

 more about the relationship of marine organisms 

 to each other and to the physical and chemical 

 properties of the sea. 



(1) One of the most exciting recent advances in 

 comprehending food chains within the sea is the 

 discovery that organic material, instead of being 

 in uniform suspension in the ocean, is frequently 

 found in the form of conglomerates. These parti- 

 cles, described as 'snow flakes,' are composed of 

 phytoplankton and bacteria adhering to non-living 

 organic material suspended in the water. In the 

 past, the marine animal food chain was considered 

 a one-way process, in which life was derived mainly 

 from living matter, with small organisms being 

 eaten by larger ones. The phytoplankton, which 

 assimilate the inorganic compounds through pho- 

 tosynthesis, were thought to be the primary source 

 of food for the zooplankton, which were in turn 

 devoured by larger animals, and so on. However, 



some scientists reasoned that this long-held belief 

 was inadequate to explain nutrient utilization in 

 the sea and that there must be another basic food 

 supply in the ocean. The breakthrough came 

 recently when government-supported investiga- 

 tors working at Woods Hole demonstrated that 

 organic particles could be reconstituted from the 

 organic material dissolved in the sea by adhesion 

 to air bubbles in the water, and that continued 

 bubble formation resulted in the build-up of 

 larger particles. In view of this, it is now proposed 

 that organic conglomerates are continually being 

 created in the ocean bv the process of adhesion 

 to air bubbles. An appreciable portion of this 

 material remains available as stable food for the 

 zooplankton, which are attracted to these masses 

 and are thus concentrated in certain sea areas. 

 This important theory explains how certain zoo- 

 plankton are able to obtain sufficient food to main- 

 tain their populations, and — if born out by further 

 work — has important implications in terms of the 

 distribution and abundance of the commercially 

 important predators involved in food cycles within 

 the sea. 



(2) A relationship between the Florida red tide 

 and shellfish was discovered when materials, 

 not previously known to be toxic to man, were 

 identified in shellfish by the Public Health Service. 

 A parasite responsible for meningitis in man 

 was discovered in shellfish. Studies of the oc- 

 currence of E-tvpe botulism found the causative 

 organism to be much more widespread than had 

 been suspected previously. 



(3) Studies of the behavior of tuna and their 

 responses to such factors as sound, temperature, 

 and light, have given Bineau of Commercial 

 Fisheries oceanographers new insight into the 

 behavior patterns of this commercially important 

 fish. This work promises to contribute to the solu- 

 tion of practical problems presently confronting 

 the fisherman in developing new harvesting tech- 

 niques. The Bureau has also developed serological 

 techniques to define subpopulations of tuna, 

 salmon, and groundfishes. This research is im- 

 portant to the international management of 

 fishery resources. 



(4) Newly formed land masses resulting from 

 volcanic activity provide the marine biologist 

 with a unique opportunity to conduct investiga- 

 tions of the biological invasion of denuded areas. 

 Such a project is currently being sponsored by the 



