10 THE OCEAN RIVER 



It is not confined to the North Atlantic, yet the Ocean River 

 has received more than its geographical share of attention. 

 The explorations which have gone to the seven seas have more 

 often than not originated from its shores, and the leaders in 

 this new field, with a few important exceptions, have grown 

 up within sight of its waters. 



The work of seagoing expeditions is limited to scientific 

 measurements and the collection of material for further study 

 at land-based laboratories. The results of recent scientific 

 exploration have not only extended the foundations of ocean- 

 ography but have also developed laboratories on the sea- 

 coasts. There are many of these of varying importance on both 

 sides of the Atlantic, some devoted to the problems of ocean 

 fisheries and others with wider interests. A great stimulus to 

 the founding of marine laboratories on the eastern side of the 

 Atlantic was the International Council for the Exploration of 

 the Sea. Though primarily concerned with the fisheries of that 

 offshoot of the Ocean River, the North Sea, the Council has 

 had great and good influence on the development of ocean 

 sciences on both sides of the Ocean River, and is symbolical 

 of the international bond of co-operation among modern 

 oceanographers. 



When we can chart and fathom and correlate the natural 

 phenomena that create and control the life in the sea along 

 the course of the Ocean River and know the signs and por- 

 tents of the climatic cycles above its waters, we may then be 

 able to predict in advance the weather of Europe and the fluc- 

 tuations of the food supply within the sea. And further, 

 through the modern advance of marine biology and ocean 

 chemistry, new and unpredictable benefits to man will come 

 out of the life-giving waters of the ocean. 



With our present knowledge we are beginning to prove out 

 in science the close relationship of basic life and the salt sea. 

 The stable structure of ocean water is the nearest natural com- 



