Page 6 March 1979 No. 250 NEW YORK SHELL CLUB NOTES 
A VISIT TO HARBOR BRANCH FOUNDATION 
Morris K. Jacobson 
this marine research station and I was surprised 
ide Seduiaetnd sr tebatd on of Paul Mikkelson, 4 fellow-member of 
the Astronaut Trail Shell Club, I was able to pay a short visit to 
the Harbor Branch Foundation, located midway between Vero Beach and 
Fort Pierce in Indian River County, Florida. I found a magnificent- 
ly equipped research station with numerous engineering and science 
buildings located on both sides of a short canal opening into the 
Indian River. I was shown aboard the chief research vessel, the 
R/V JOHNSON, named for the president and founder of this large, non- 
profit organization, Mr. J. S. Johnson of the well-known firm of 
Johnson & Johnson, manufacturers of medical supplies, surgical 
dressings, etc. In a nearby hangar I saw the new submersible which, 
together with the R/V JOHNSON, forms the investigating team of the 
Foundation. There are at least two such submersibles named in honor 
of the inventor and vice-president of Harbor Branch, Edwin A. Link, 
well known in aviation circles for his work on flight simulators, 
Although much of the work done at Harbor Branch is associated with 
marine and oceanographic studies, a large part of the facilities is 
given over to the engineering and construction of new and improved 
machines to be used by oceanographers and biologists. Other impor- 
tant work is associated with research in aquaculture and mariculture 
directed toward determining how nutrients in organic sewage can 
help in raising commercially valuable plant and animal crops. In 
point of fact, a great deal of work is being done in connection with 
the effects of pollution, especially in the Indian River. Each sci- 
entist has laboratory space at his disposal, and the facilities of 
the Science Laboratory building include a room with circulating sea- 
water to permit holding marine organisms and their larvae for obser- 
vations in the laboratory. 
I was chiefly interested in the present Harbor Branch project of 
producing a thorough investigation of the biology of the Indian Riv- 
er. Mr. Mikkelson is associated with this study as a malacologist 
and I was fascinated when he took me to Foundation Museum where the 
animals -- including numerous lots of mollusks -- are stored for 
future study. 
Besides the biological and engineering work, the Foundation is also 
interested in marine archaeology. It participated in the recent at- 
wenn ee te LOGRe end Danse We wreck of the Civil War battleship, 
6 Ur. Sco rom 8 grave off the c ina 
where it sank in the course of a violent Stee. * Foie newt Wane 
I have always been interested in the man 
y marine stud tations 
which dot our coasts, and was delighted to learn of gnats visit 
this superbly equipped Harbor Branch Foundation. 

NYSC MEMBERS HONORED 
We call your attention to the January issue of 1 
h 9? 
at 1) and the lead article by William K. eaaheln tae iin a 
lio: SIX NEW LIVING SPECIES OF MURICACEAN GASTROPODS. Of the six 
new species described, the authors have named two in honor of NYSC 
members. The first of these is Pteropurpura benderskyi, named for 
