forms, such as Navy's recently completed SPAR, a 

 FLIP-type platform for acoustics research, and 

 an advanced buoy developed for ONR. The latter 

 is capable of telemetering data at 100-bits per 

 second and can remain unattended up to one year. 

 Other platforms represent different approaches 

 to data collection and observation. Five aircraft 

 are currently supporting oceanographic work 

 at the Naval Oceanographic Office. In Antarctica, 

 NSF used a specially-designed observation cham- 

 ber to make, for the first time, simultaneous 

 observations and recordings on tape and film of 

 the activities of the Weddell seal under sea-ice. 



e. Instrumentation. New tools for measurements 

 and observation are also contributing: to our 

 oceanographic capability. However, instrumenta- 

 tion is not moving ahead as rapidly as many 

 would wish, since the lack of hard specifications 

 and poor reliability continue to be major prob- 

 lems. Nevertheless, accomplishments such as 

 NAVOCEANO's and ESSA's shipboard oceano- 

 graphic computers and multisensor systems rep- 

 resent major advances in the field. Progress has 

 been made in precise oceanwide navigation, a 

 problem that has long plagued the oceanographer. 

 Oceanographic institutions working with the Navy 

 have developed an effective navigation system 

 which utilizes transmissions from several Navy ex- 

 perimental very low frequency navigation stations. 

 Equipment for receiving fixes from navigation 

 satellites is also being installed on some oceano- 

 graphic ships. VLF and satellite systems are 

 particularly useful in remote areas of the world, 

 presently beyond the coverage of LORAN C net- 

 works. 



f. Data and Information Systems. Oceanographic 

 research requires a large amount of information 

 on current programs. The Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion's Science Information Exchange has advised 

 and assisted ICO members in acquiring informa- 

 tion helpful in managing their programs. 



National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) 

 reimbursable requests for data and information 

 services nearly tripled from 1962 to 1965, reflect- 

 ing the increased requirements and confidence of 

 the oceanographic community. Moreover, NODC 

 has fostered an expanded international exchange 

 of data through its operation of World Data Cen- 

 ter A. In 1965 the Center exchanged data with 

 organizations in some 40 countries. This included 



direct contact with agencies in 29 different coun- 

 tries and indirect dealing with four international 

 groups. NODC has made progress in developing 

 systems for processing physical, biological, and 

 geological data. Some preliminary work has also 

 been accomplished in developing an archive sys- 

 tem for chemical data. Although it will require a 

 further effort to clear up the total oceanographic 

 data backlog, NODC has made a major assault on 

 oceanographic station and bathythermograph 

 (BT) data. It has the largest collection of these 

 two types of data in the world, with an archive 

 of 300,000 stations (6 million discrete observa- 

 tions) and more than a million BT prints in its 

 analog data file. 



In an effort to improve the handling of biologi- 

 cal specimens, an oceanographic sorting center 

 has been established at the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion. The Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting 

 Center (SOSC) has received, processed, and 

 shipped over five million specimens from bio- 

 logical collections obtained on international ex- 

 peditions from the U.S. Antarctic Research Pro- 

 gram and from other marine collections of the 

 Smithsonian, Federal, and private agencies. The 

 specimens are preserved, properly labeled, given 

 general identification, packaged, and sent to 

 scientists around the world for research on the 

 populations, distributions, and interrelationships 

 of marine organisms. 



g. Laboratories. Over the past calendar year, 

 new laboratories have gone into operation to 

 expand further the nation's oceanographic 

 capability, especially in the field of biology and 

 fisheries research. For example, the Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries laboratory on the campus of 

 the University of California at San Diego is be- 

 lieved to be one of the finest fishery research cen- 

 ters in the world. BCF's new lab at Beaufort, 

 North Carolina, will provide unique facilities for 

 studying the effects of radioactive material on 

 aquatic life. At Seattle, another new lab has opened 

 to increase the Bureau's capability for solving 

 problems connected with fisheries in the Pacific 

 Northwest. The recently dedicated biological 

 laboratory adjacent to the University of Miami's 

 Marine Laboratory will serve as a base of opera- 

 tions for two Bureau research vessels investi- 

 gating the vast fishery resources of the Tropical 

 Atlantic (particularly the tuna) and the oceano- 

 graphic factors affecting their distribiition. 



