VOLUME I NO. II SUMMER 1953 Published by WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPH1C INSTITUTION WOODS HOLE , MASSACHUSETTS •'<•> EDITOR: JAN HAHN Published semt-annually and distributed to the Associates of the Woods Hole Oceonographlc Institution and others interested in Oceanography. Composed and printed by the reproduction departments of the Institution. WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION WOODS HOLE , MASSACHUSETTS Henry B. Bigelow • Chairman of the Board of Trustees — Edward H. Smith — Director — Arnaud C. Marts — President of the Corporation • Alfred C. Red fie Id — Associate Director — Columbus O'D. Iselin — Senior Oceanogropher — OVER This aerial view of Woods Hole shows graphically why the village is a world center of marine sciences. The nearness of the ocean, the frontage on deep water and the absence of pollution make Woods Hole a desirable location for marine research. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institu- tion, and its docks, is located in the center of the photograph. The building to the left is the Marine Biological Laboratory which occupies a whole block, while the sole Federal Institution, the Pish and Wildlife Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior is located at the lower right. This summer our public exhibits again will be located at the aquarium building situated at the lower right hand corner of the photograph. By next year it is hoped that we shall have more space and .additional exhibits in a building of our own. EDITORIAL On May 20th The Woods Hole Oceanographic Associates gave a dinner at the Now York Yacht Club. The addresses given after the dinner are of such general interest tnat they are printed in this issue of "OCEANUS", so that the speeches may be brought to a wider audience. We hope the reader will be stirred as we were while reading the discourses. May this be so, for the future of ocear ography and the future of man's growth and development are inexorably connected. Working in the exploration of man's last frontier we feel akin to those who opened the West. Through "OCEANUS" and other activities we hope to be able to impart some of this fervor to the public, without whose support and interest so ably developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Associates • our work could not proceed at the present pace. THE WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATES By Gerard Swope, Jr. , President of the Associates The organization of the Associates is Just one year old this Spring. The Institution itself has Just recently at- tained its majority. It was organized in 1930 as an out- growth of the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory and, in fact, the land on which the scientific buildings are situated was made available by the Laboratory and purchased through a gift from the Carnegie Corporation. The labora- tories have always been closely associated. While the Marine Biological Laboratory's work is devoted to fundamen- tal research in the biological field, the Oceanographic Institution is principally engaged in the study of the sea in all its phases. Two years ago the scientists at the Institution may have become a bit lonely in the confines of the laboratories on shore and the sea, but more likely after 20 years of work, they felt that they were working in a field so big, so challenging and 30 fascinating, that othsra, not so for- tunate as to be able to spend all their time in exploring the depths of the sea, would be interested in seeing what goes on, and in being able to keep in touch with its future development. They felt that the science of oceanography could better grow and mature through wider knowledge in the community in general. They felt a need for an understanding group akin to the alumni of a university. This was given a tremendous impetus by an Associate, Rachel Carson, in her book "The Sea Around Us". So it all started when Admiral Smith asked some of the neighbors of the Institution at Woods Hole to come in and look around. Many of us did, anxious to satisfy our curiosity as to what went on in the laboratories and on the ships. Out of that visit was born the Associates. It is not a money-raising organization and no funds are being solicited. It is purely and simply an opportunity for those interested in the science of the sea to become better acquainted with its vast possibilities and to follow and en- courage its future development. The dues of the Associates will be used to support, In a modest way, special projects relating to the work of the Institution, with emphasis on those which will bring a greater understanding of oceanography to the layman. Last fall we were particularly fortunate in having one of our new Associates, Mr. Samuel Peck, quite out of the blue, donate to the Institu- tion a Sports Fisherman. It was hoped that it could be used to make coastal studies of the habits, whereabouts and move- ments of pelagic fishes. However, it proved to be too light for this purpose and it is planned to dispose of it and the Associates have proposed that consideration be given to using a portion of the proceeds to make It possible for the Con- servation Foundation to make a documentary film on the sea with emphasis on the oceanography and its future possibilities which will be used for educational purposes throughout the country and will be available generally for use by any inter- ested group. Other projects which are being considered for the future are to help establish a museum devoted to the sea at Woods Hole. To further bring to the layman information on the work and activity of the Institution it is proposed to hold meetings and also to issue a semi-annual publication called "OCEANUS", the first copy of which was published last winter. The annual meeting to be held at Woods Hole each summer will give the Associates an opportunity of becoming directly and intimately acquainted with the facilities and work of the Institution. This year the meeting will be held on Saturday, August 1 st, at which time it is planned to take all the Associates to sea for a day on one of the Institution's ships and to demonstrate some of the devices and equipment used to bring to light "Pull many a gem of purest ray serene The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear." •*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*• WORLD POPULATION From the address by Dr. Fairfield Osborn President Conservation Foundation "Why man needs the ocean" was the subject of Dr. Osborn' s discourse. Unfortunately, his speech was not in manuscript lorm so that we are unable to print his remarks in full. Dr. Osborn explained that the enormous increase in world population-expected to reach a total of 3t>00 million people by the end of this century-has made it adamant that we obtain a better knowledge of the world's marine resources. There is no doubt but that man will have to turn toward the ocean for additional food and raw materials. Unfortunately little is being done to learn more about the possibilities of supply and harvesting the sea so that we shall be able to ob- tain optimum results on a long range basis. The increase in food supply is not keeping up with the increase in population, Dr. Osborn continued. Since 1935 the population is up by 12$, while the food supply has been expanded by only 9$. The World Population: Middle 17th century - 450 million people Opening 19th century - 800 million people Opening 20th century - 1600 million people Since 1900 800 million people Presently 2^00 million people Present rate of increase - 30 million people a year. Expected at the end of the 20th century - 3600 million people. •*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*. ^*i£?V THE DEVELOPMENT OF WORLD FISHERIES By Columbus O'D. Iselin, Senior Oceanographer Man Is basically a land animal and more or less afraid of the sea, and this perhaps is one of the reasons that we know so little about it. Mr. Osborn has said that we need to make more effective use of the ocean's resources. I will try to explain how ready and how unready oceanography is to meet this challenge. At the outset, at any rate, the problem of how better to make use of the resources of the sea is only in part a scientific problem. The chief difficulties retarding the world fisheries are social and economic. Scientifically, we know enough about the sea and its inhabitants to make it safe to say that several times the present world's fish landings of 25 million tons annually could be obtained before there need be any worry about conservation measures. For example, at present only a small percentage of the total fish crop is obtained from the southern hemisphere which, of course, contains a high percentage of the world's salt water covering. On the other hand, to land fish cheaply is the crux of the problem and this involves knowing when and where they are to be found in exceptional concentra- tions. In this respect our knowledge of the southern hemis- phere oceans is very deficient indeed. A scientist is not supposed to be concerned about the po- tential usefulness of his subject, yet this is mainly what I want to discuss. Although they seldom admit it, I believe that most scientists think that what they are doing will someday turn out to be useful. It is very gratifying to me, at least, to find that our little subject of oceanography is beginning to attract attention because some successes have already been achieved in its practical applications, although we have hardly made a beginning at the very large problem of harvesting the sea efficiently. To date the greatest practical successes have been in con- nection with undersea warfare and this is of course the reason that the Navy has been giving us generous support during the past ten years or more. Yet clearly there are many other aspects of oceanography that will turn out to be useful in one way or another. Before discussing the oceanographic aspects of commercial fishing, I would like to mention briefly some of the other promising applications of oceanography. There are, of course, interesting applications to other fields of science. Of recent years, it has become clear that geology can greatly benefit through studies of the processes of marine sedimentation and through a general exploration of the ocean areas by conven- tional geophysical methods. Such investigations are now being actively pursued and consume a considerable fraction of the time of our vessels. It is less generally realized how closely oceanography and meteorology are linked. I think that we would all agree that it would be useful to be able to predict the trends of the weather and better still to learn how to in- fluence these trends. At Woods Hole we have a group that has pioneered in the marine aspects in this field. 7 Together the hydrosphere and the atmosphere constitute a huge heat engine in which currents, winds and weather are only means of dissipating the energy received from the sun. Of the two halves of this system, the ocean is much less variable and therefore acts as a sort of fly wheel. The energy transfer be- tween the water envelope and the air envelope takes place in many subtle ways and only when these are thoroughly understood will man be able to predict the weather, let alone attempt to modify it. Of recent years we have had two main lines of attack in marine meteorology. One group has been measuring in detail the exchange of heat and water vapor between the ocean and the at- mosphere. Another has been studying the important role which salt particles play as condensation nuclei in the atmosphere. Meteorology has been backward in the development of instrumen- tation and we have also tried to improve this deficiency. We have learned to use an aeroplane to explore the details of the processes taking place over the ocean and we have learned to use the plane to observe some of the accompanying oceanography. Besides measuring the temperature and humidity of the air as a function of altitude and of the length of time that the air has been flowing over the water surface, through accelerometers, the plane is able to detect not only major updrafts and down drafts, but also the degree of turbulence in the air. In addi- tion, through an infra-red sensitive device the plane is able to measure sea surface temperature sufficiently accurately to locate the margins of ocean currents and other important thermal discontinuities of the air-sea interface. Furthermore, the plane can be used to scout ahead for our research vessels so that they can develop the three dimen- sional physical structure of the ocean with a minimum of con- fusion and a great economy in time. GULF STREAM RESEARCH In such ways physical oceanography is approaching the synoptic stage. Not only are we beginning to develop a relia- ble picture of the structure of the Gulf Stream, for example, during a given period of time, but also we are beginning to learn how this structure gradually changes and it can be ex- pected that before long, to some degree at least, we will be able to predict changes in the current system and to forecast some of their consequences. In these studies, the continuous measurements now being obtained of the transport of water through the Florida Straits will play an increasingly important part. With the cooperation of the cable companies, a record is being maintained of the difference in electrical potential between the two side of the Florida Straits. These are not only fundamental oceanographic observations for studies of North Atlantic circulation, but it seems likely that they will become a valuable meteorological record as well. In all probability the transport through the Florida Straits reflects the total recent energy of the easterly winds over the tropical Atlantic. Having very briefly sketched the directions in which our researches in physical oceanography and meteorology arc pro- ceeding, I will be so bold as to make some guesses as to the practical applications that may develop out of these studies. We have found that the Gulf Stream consists of a number of narrow filaments of swiftly moving water. On a statistical basis along the average axis of the Gulf Stream one can expect to find currents approaching three knots, but in the narrow swift streaks velocities of five or even six knots will be en- countered. If a tanker carrying oil from the Gulf of Mexico to New England, for example, could learn how to remain in the most swiftly moving water, as much as 60 or 70 additional miles could be made e;ood each day. From the air we are beginning to find - TEMPERATURE GRADIENT INDICATED 6Y AIRBORNE RADIATION THERMOMETER VISUAL CONTACT CONFIRMED BY RADIATION THERMOMETER INTERMITTENT VISUAL CONTACT ? VISUAL AND INSTRUMENTAL CONTACT LOST 56' REPRESENTATIVE INDICATED 60' TEMPERATURES IN DEGREES SURFACE EXPRESSION OF THE GULF STREAM FRONT BETWEEN MIAMI, FLA. AND 70°W MERIDIAN FLIGHT ALTITUDE. 1500 FT. that there is a certain order to these filaments or streaks of current. They seem to be arranged in an overlapping manner like the shingles on a roof, but they are very big shingles, each at least 150 miles in length. Following the Gulf Stream northward with the plane, we find that when the radiation thermometer can no longer detect a warm streak of swiftly moving water, the thing to do is to turn left, that is towards the coast and within 10 or 15 miles a new and more vigorous streak of swift current will be encountered. It seems likely that navigators can learn to make use of such characteristics of the major ocean currents now that we are beginning to be able to describe them in a reliable manner. Studies and measurements of the characteristics of ocean waves have been particularly active of recent years. It seems likely that the new understanding gained in this field will have most useful applications in naval architecture. Until now it has been difficult to include wave effects in towing tank tests. .In any case for large ships traveling at moderate 10 speeds, waves are not too Important a design factor. At Woods Hole we have recently undertaken a study of ship motion In re- lation to natural waves and I for one believe that the results of this study will be far-reaching In naval architecture. We hope to learn what makes one vessel so much more comfortable than another. We hope to show how sea kindliness can be much Improved, both In small vessels and In large ships traveling at the high speeds that will soon become possible, It has been thought for many years that the Gulf Stream exerts a considerable influence on the climate of Northern Europe, but until recently there has been no easy way whereby Its fluctuations In transport could be recorded. Now that we have learned to use the submarine cables for this purpose, It may well become possible to relate the flow through the Florida Straits to subsequent climatic trends In Europe. In all proba- bility the time lag will turn out to be a matter of several years. The arrival of varying amounts of warm water off the 11 European coast not only must influence the climate ashore, out even more directly it must exert an influence on the fisheries. To date, attempts to predict fluctuations in the yield of the fisheries have mostly assumed that some biological variable controlled the yield; for example, the number of potential spawners or variations in the food supply. However, it seems likely that the large scale physical variations in the system usually exert more pronounced effects. A recent study by Mr. Chase at Woods Hole will serve to emphasize this point and at the same time illustrate how oceanography will become of assistance when and if It becomes feasible to direct the fishing effort more efficiently. For the last 25 years, the Pish and Wildlife Service has been keeping track of the relative strength of each year class of haddock on Georges Bank. This curve is a reliable one, for each time there is a successful spawning, this particular year class will show up strongly in the landings at Boston for a number of years beginning about 3 years later. Many attempts have been made without success to explain the marked fluctua- tions which occur from year to year in the number of young had- dock being added to this heavily fished stock. Moreover, it was shown that little or no recruitment of haddock come to Georges Banks from other areas. Thus the influence must be a local one. Haddock spawn from early in March to about the middle of April. During about a three -months period the eggs are float- ing at all levels. After this brief pelagic stage, the baby haddock swim to the bottom where they remain for the rest of their lives. Mr. Chase's problem was to look for some variable factor that could at times all but wipe out a year class. He reasoned that northwest gales might do this and it turned out that such is indeed the case. He studied the difference in 12 barometric pressure between Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and Nantucket. This gave him a day by day record of the presence or absence of strong northwest winds over the bank during the critical three months period each year when the young haddock are in danger of being blown off the bank and of finding them- selves in 2000 fathoms of water, rather than in 1^.0 fathoms, when the time comes to swim to the bottom. Having established the correlation between the number and duration of northwest gales and the lack of success of the year class, Mr. Chase has shown how three years in advance one can know the amount of fishing effort that will be required to produce a given quan- tity of haddock from Georges Banks. One reason that commercial fishing fails to attract capi- tal and to become organized into sizable units is that the success of each type of fishing has been so unpredictable. Fishermen have remained hunters rather than harvesters of the sea. Their equipment has remained primitive and to them luck seems much more important than the design of their vessel and its equipment. Compared to agriculture, very little engineer- ing effort has been devoted to the production end of the fish- ing industry. If oceanography can remove some of the mysteries and uncertainties that have plagued commercial fishing, it will be much easier to plan the fishing effort wisely and to justify the expense of engineering effort. In short, in an expanded and intensified fishery, the first duty of oceanography will be to provide reliable predic- tions concerning the natural fluctuations of the various com- mercially important species. So far as we know, at present, in only a few cases is overfishing a serious problem. The essence of the situation is that fish produce a great many eggs and a great abundance of young fish will survive each time the physical and chemical circumstances are favorable. Some years 13 one species will be plentiful, other years another, but over a considerable area the total production will remain nearly con- stant. It is true that near the shore overfishing sometimes oc- curs, but economic factors alone are usually sufficient to re- lieve the situation, for when one species becomes scarce the fishermen In time turn to others which are more plentiful. It must be remembered that in fishing man is not in any way re- ducing the total productivity of the sea. In fact, he is in- creasing it for he is removing the enemies of the young fish. Many fish habitually eat their young. Another general consideration is that, unlike the land, the sea contains a vast reserve of nutrient chemicals that have been accumulating since the beginning of time. Its pro- ductivity depends on the physical processes, that is winds and currents, whereby these chemicals are returned to the surface layer where plants can convert them into living matter. In the sea there is no danger of man destroying the equivalent of the forests or the soil. If one can agree with these general conclusions that over- fishing will seldom become a serious problem, then there are no serious objections to employing more efficient fishing tech- niques, provided these do not destroy too many young fish. What are some of the ways in which oceanography could help fishermen to harvest the sea more cheaply and to spread the fishing effort more widely? At present fish are taken in quantity, either at the sur- face or on bottom. Only in a few cases are the mid-depths being successfully exploited. It is for the fish living at mid-depths that an effective fish locating device would be of great help to the fishermen, for here the catching problem is a three dimensional one. The net must be not only at the right 14 place but also at the right depth. The understanding that we have gained of underwater acoustics during the last 10 years or so has shown that it is entirely practical to use acoustical techniques to locate schools of fish and even to distinguish between different species. In fact this is now being done somewhat crudely in several European fisheries. What is needed is to make the equipment more convenient and less expensive, and this can per- haps be accomplished, when we know a little more about the characteristics of echoes produced by fish. Which frequencies are the most favorable to distinguish between fish and the great mass of smaller acoustical scatterers that swarm at mid- depths, for example? At present we know very little about the reactions of fish to atimulae of various kinds. Could we not learn to attract fish or to herd them? Could we not establish the equivalent of fences in the sea which would require fish to converge towards a trap? This could perhaps be done acoustically, electrically or with lights. Some small beginnings are being made in this field, but before the engineering phase can be successfully carried out we need to know far more about the reactions of fish to their natural environment, as well as to such modifications of the physical or chemical situation as might be contrived. In short, the science of fishing remains very primitive, but I believe that if a rather modest effort could be properly organized and effectively backed up with engineering development, very great gains might be rather quickly achieved. We need to study the biology of fishes and to break away from the classi- cal philosophy of fisheries biologists who from the outset were convinced that over-fishing was likely to be a serious problem. Even if this danger is much nearer than I think it is, this is no reason that fishing methods should not be made more efficient . 15 If by chance it should become economically feasible to fish in the deep ocean basins, instead of lust along the coast as is now the case, the resulting gain in protein production would be almost unlimited. Caught at a depth of 300 fathoms, The cover photograph was made by D. M. Owen, our underwater photographer, while flying with John F. Holmes who has made many landings on the Arctic Ice-pack. 16 THE WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION By Rear Admiral Ed. H. Smith, U.S.C.G. (Ret.). Director The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is very appre- ciative of the interest and plans which the Woods Hole Oceanographic Associates have for the spreading of a better and wider understanding of the relatively young .science of oceanography. It is a pleasure, therefore, as Director of the Insti- tution, to say something to the Associates' friends, and possible future members of the organization, concerning the Institution, such as its location; how it came to be founded; its scientific objectives, and a brief description of some of the field work. The Institution's shore facilities, consisting of a main laboratory building, shops, smaller buildings and a dock-side pier, are located on the picturesque harbor of Woods Hole, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The establishment was initiated in 192? by the National Academy of Sciences when it was realized that this country was falling far behind Europe in its scientific study of sea problems. No station at that time existed along the Atlantic Coast. In 1930 the Rockefeller Foundation responded with a three million dollar grant which provided for the erection of the shore plant; an ocean going research vessel, and the income from the balance 17 to be used for operations. What was adequate, however, twenty-three years ago to maintain a modest effort, falls short of the work today, and were it not for the support which is now received from naval sources, it would be quite impossible to carry on but a fraction of the present scale. We take pride in noting, however, that after twenty-three years, the Institution is still the largest private, non- profit laboratory in this country devoted to the study of the sea, and that during the quarter century Just passed, the contributions of scientific facts about the sea which have emanated from Woods Hole are second to none. Popular conception of an ocean pertains to its waves and watery expanse, yet that which does not meet the eye; its Internal thermal and chemical structure; its myriad of living forms; the geological aspects of its containing basin, and finally the atmosphere in contact with its surface, all give their particular challenge to the oceanographer. The collection of observations at sea upon which the scientific findings and results depend, obviously requires the use of sea-going ships. In fact ships are as necessary to an oceanographic laboratory as a high-powered telescope is to an astronomical observatory, and of the former the operating costs are far greater. The practice of oceanog- raphy has the unenviable distinction of being the most expen- sive of all the sciences. The arduous collection of field observations by both ship and airplane, take our scientists as far away as the tropics, and even In flights over Arctic ice to near the Pole. ATLANTIS, our flagship, is an auxiliary steel ketch, llj.2 feet over all, with a main mast which until shortened a few years ago, was said to be the tallest single spar of any 13 sailing craft under the American flag. The sails add many miles to the fuel's endurance, which is an important factor where great sea expanses must be traversed. Isolated ocean areas, seldom crossed by ships, must often be visited, and in case of a lost propeller, sails can be very useful. Once ATLANTIS had such an experience and sailed from the Cape Verdes to New London in quite an easy voyage. A year ago off the mouth of the Amazon, ATLANTIS' mizzen mast and sail went by the board. The wreckage was soon cleared away, and the work resumed with only the stub of the mast to show the scar. A prompt refit and another deep-sea expedition fol- lowed the return of ATLANTIS to Woods Hole. ATLANTIS has spent 250 days at sea per year. One of the unique and fascinating features of ATLANTIS is the special instruments and equipment employed to probe the depths. The work requires the use of many miles of strong flexible cables (from 3/32 inch to 1/2 inch in diameter) upon which to lower and hoist the various recording instruments. Among other observr.tions the oceanographer must measure the thermal ana other physical and chemical conditions beneath the surface. Electrically operated deck winches of several sizes handle the cables. The largest one of all, embedded in the bowels of ATLANTIS, contains 20,000 feet of 1/2 inch cable. This winch is used to trawl in deep ocean and to lower a heavy steel tube which when driven into the ooze of the ocean floor, brings up a long core of sediment that re- quired thousands of years to deposit. The sediment examined under the misoroscopes of our staff helps to determine the ex- tent of geological ages * *•*«*«*<>*<••*.+•**•*•*•*•*. 22 im , Lowering a coring tube to obtain sediment from the ocean bottom. \ Oceanographer Dean P. Bumpus determining the oxygen content of a water sample in the upper laboratory of ATLANTIS. < U. S. Navy PBY6A on loan to the Institution landed at a Greenland Airbase during a flight to Iceland. 23 CURRENTS AND TIDES Gerard Swope , Jr., whose summer home at Juniper Point is a well-known landmark, is vice-president of the Inter- national General Electric Company. Mr. Swope has been instrumental in the organiza- tion of the Woods Hole O^eanographic A soci~ es a d is the first President of that organization. tion from 19*4-0 to 1950 and directly instrumental in solv- ing some of the more difficult problems of the Navy during the war. He is now senior physical oceanographer at the Institution. He is recognized as an outstanding pioneer, leader and authority in the science of Oceanography. Pairfield Osborn is President of he New York Zoological Society and Presi- dent of the Conservation Foundation as well as a mem- ber of numerous other organi- zations principally devoted to the natural sciences. He is also a Trustee of the Re- sources for the Future. His new book "The Limits of the Earth" will be published in the fall. Columbus O'D. Iselin is Associate Professor of Physi- cal Oceanography at Harvard. He was Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institu- Rear Admiral Ed. H. Smith, U.S.C.G. (Ret.), is the Direc- tor of the Oceanographic Insti- tution. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Arctic Insti- tute of North America. He is a graduate of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy and received his Doctorate in Oceanography at Harvard University. After the tragic sinking of the TITANIC he was instru- mental in creating, organizing and operating the International Ice Patrol, and in recognition of his leadership in this work he is better known arnon^ his associates as "Iceberg Smith". 24 LIBRARY WH 17YI N Members of the Executive Committee Woods Hole Oceanographic Associates Gerard Swope, Jr., President Henry S. Morgan John A. Gifford, Secretary Edward A. Norman Winslow Carlton Malcolm S. Park Rachel L. Carson Thomas J. Watson, Jr. Perry E. Hall James H. Wicker sham George P. Jewett William D. Winter Ex Officio: Arnaud C. Marts, President Edward H. Smith, Director Edwin D. Brooks, Jr., Treasurer