12 



What is the cumulative impact of these various activities, and on 

 what scale is that impact being felt in the immensity of the world's 

 ocean ? To what extent is contamination of the open ocean occurring, 

 as contrasted with pollution of the coastal waters, and how serious is 

 that contamination ? 



Since 1970, we have been fortmiate in having analyses of oceanic and 

 atmospheric problems from a variety of highly expert groups to guide 

 our thinking. 



In 1970, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sponsored a 

 study of critical environmental problems of worldwide significance. In 

 examining the issue of ocean pollution, the scientists involved con- 

 cluded that the petroleiun, pesticides, and toxic metals were the prin- 

 cipal pollutants of global significance. 



Since then, other groups working under the National Academy of 

 Science, the National Science Foundation, and NOAA have assessed 

 the pollution potential of substances entering the ocean. They, too, 

 have concluded that petroleum, chlorinated hydrocarbons, pesticides, 

 PCB's, and certain toxic metals are the ocean pollutants of greatest 

 global interest. 



However, despite broad general consensus about the contaminants 

 which represent the greatest threat of global pollution, knowledge of 

 their full extent, their fate, and their impact on the ocean ecosystem, 

 is scanty at best. 



OIL 



It will come as no surprise that oil is one of the ocean pollutants 

 causing the greatest attention. I have already mentioned our 

 MARMAP cruises which indicated that tar balls were widely dis- 

 tributed fom Cape Cod to the Caribbean. We will be having these 

 samples analyzed in greater detail to see if we can trace the nature 

 and sources of these materials. 



That is part of the analysis I have shown you here. 



A number of Federal agencies, as well as the industry, are beginning 

 to compile information of this sort. NOAA is intensifying its activities 

 to monitor the extent of oil contamination. We have initiated a study 

 to determine baseline levels of petroleum constituents in selected ma- 

 rine organisms in Prince William Soimd, Alaska, the southern termi- 

 nus of the proposed Alaska pipeline. 



By establishing these baselines now, we can detect the cumulative 

 impact of any future oil contamination. Perhaps we can devise an early 

 warning system for the area. We are also conducting similar activities 

 in Puget Sound, and we plan to extend similar oil contamination 

 sampling along the seaward route of oil transport on the Pacific coast 

 in the future. 



But we must not only imderstand the extent of contamination ; we 

 must also better determine its eiffects on the ecosystem. Our labora- 

 tories at Tiburon, Calif., and Auke Ray, Alaska, are studying tlie 

 physiological and behavioral effects of oil on vai-ious marine organisms. 

 Studies at Auke Bay are concerned with the effect of crude oil on 

 crabs and salmon fry ; those at Tiburon are concerned with effects of 

 two oil components, benzene and toluene, on various species of fish. 

 Our laboratory at Beaufort, N.C., is studying the pathways of peti-o- 

 leum hydrocarbons in a marsh ecosystem. 



