1914] Sumner, et al.: Physical Conditions in San Francisco Bay 3 
could be conducted, and it was therefore proposed that the federal 
Bureau of Fisheries should undertake the execution of this project, 
in co-operation with the institutions named. 
That Bureau assented cordially to the proposal, which had already 
been discussed informally at a considerably earlier date. In October, 
1911, formal approval was given to the plan, under conditions pre- 
seribed by the Bureau of Fisheries. The execution of the project was 
later vested in a board, consisting of the commanding officer and the 
Albatross’’, and a third member to be designated 
by the committee representing the local institutions above mentioned. 
Professor C. A. Kofoid, of the University of California, was chosen 
as the representative of the latter body, while the other members were 
Commander G. H. Burrage, U. 8. N., sueceeded by Lieutenant-Com- 
mander H. B. Soule, U. 8S. N., together with the senior author of the 
ce 
naturalist of the 
present report. 
A definite programme of work was formulated, and some important 
additions to the equipment of the ‘‘ Albatross’? were decided upon. 
Field operations were commenced on January 30, 1912. 
This survey has been concerned almost wholly with San Francisco 
Bay, including San Pablo Bay, though a considerable number of 
stations were dredged outside of the Golden Gate, even to a point 
beyond the Farallon Islands. 
The stations which were occupied by the ‘‘Albatross’’ or by one 
of her launches have been classified under two main heads: (1) those 
at which our chief attention was devoted to dredging or trawling, 
and (2) those at which we were chiefly concerned with hydrographic 
observations and with plankton collection. The former have been 
designated in our records as “‘ dredging stations,’’ the latter as “‘hydro- 
To each series an independent set of consecutive 
9? 
graphic stations. 
numbers has been given, continuous with those of the past ‘‘ Alba- 
tross’’ records. The station numbers are preceded by the letters D 
and H respectively. In the former series there are, at the date of 
writing, 149 stations, in the latter series 322 stations. 
In the deeper waters the ‘‘Albatross’’ herself was employed in 
these operations, in the shallower waters a launch was used. In either 
case, however, the position of the vessel was determined at various 
points in the course of a haul by means of a sextant or an azimuth 
compass. With the launches it was, of course, impossible to employ 
any of the heavier types of apparatus, so that the exploration of the 
extensive areas of shoal water, so characteristic of San Francisco Bay, 
