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ISSN  0029-8182 


Oceanus 

The  International  Magazine  of  Marine  Science  and  Policy 

Volume  33,  Number  1 ,  Spring  1990 


Paul  R.  Ryan,  Editor 

T.  M.  Hawley,  Assistant  Editor 

Sara    L.    Ellis,    Editorial   Assistant 

Robert   W.    Bragclon,    Advertising   Coordinator 


Editorial   Advisory    Board 


1930 


Robert  D.  Ballard,  Director  of  the  Center  for  Marine  Exploration,  WHOI 

James  M.  Broadus,  Director  of  the  Marine  Policy  Center,  WHOI 

Henry  Charnock,  Professor  of  Physical  Oceanography,  University  of  Southampton,  England 

Gotthilf  Hempel,  Director  of  the  Alfred  Wegener  Institute  for  Polar  Research,  West  Germany 

Charles  D.  Hollister,  Vice-President  and  Associate  Director  for  External  Affairs,  WHOI 

John  Imbrie,  Henry  L.  Doherty  Professor  of  Oceanography,  Brown  University 

John  A.  Knauss,  U.S.  Undersecretary  for  Oceans  and  Atmosphere,  NOAA 

Arthur  E.  Maxwell,  Director  of  the  Institute  for  Geophysics,  University  of  Texas 

Timothy  R.  Parsons,  Professor,  Institute  of  Oceanography,  University  of  British  Columbia,  Canada 

Allan  R.  Robinson,  Gordon  McKay  Professor  of  Geophysical  Fluid  Dynamics,  Harvard  University 

David  A.  Ross,  Chairman,  Department  of  Geology  and  Geophysics,  and  Sea  Grant  Coordinator,  WHOI 


Published  by  the  Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institution 

Guy  W.  Nichols,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
John  H.  Steele,  President  of  the  Corporation 
Charles  A.  Dana  III,  President  of  the  Associates 


Craig  E.  Dorman,  Director  of  the  Institution 

The  views  expressed  in  Oceanus  are  those  of  the  authors  and  do  not 
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mental  security,  an  ability  to  integrate  such  diversity  becomes  ever 
more  important. 

Finally,  we  hope  you  enjoy  the  changes  to  our  format  intro- 
duced in  this  issue.  We're  striving  for  improved  readability  while 
retaining  our  thematic  concentration. 


— Craig  E.  Dorrnan 
Director,  Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institution 


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Subscribers  outside  the  U.S.  and  Canada,  please  write:  Oceanus,  Cambridge  University  Press,  The 

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From  the  Bridge 

he  Mediterranean,  theme  of  this  issue  of  Ocentuis, 
has  throughout  history  held  a  pivotal  position  in  the 
development  of  Western  Civilization.  The  Med  and 
its  adjoining  seas  have  served  variously  as 
barriers  to  and  conduits  for  international  con- 
quest while  dominating  the  surrounding  climate  and 
providing  for  both  resources  and  trade.  Indeed,  the  very 
terms  we  use  to  position  ourselves  on  the  globe,  longitude 
and  latitude,  derive  from  and  reflect  its  orientation. 

The  Mediterranean  is  important  to  oceanography  both 
in  its  own  right  and  as  a  model  for  many  of  the  processes 
that  drive  the  global  oceans.  Deep-water  formation,  mixing 
and  flow  across  sills,  biochemical  processes  in  anoxic 
bottom  water,  and  sea-level  rise  are  just  a  few  topics 
for  which  the  Med  is  an  ideal  laboratory.  And  its 
waters  that  spill  out  across  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar 
serve  as  an  important  tracer  throughout  much  of 
the  North  and  Central  Atlantic. 

The  Med  also  opens  exceptional  opportunities 
for  collaborative  science;  for  example,  I  had  the 
honor  last  year  of  hosting  a  meeting  of  the  POEM 
(Physical  Oceanography  of  the  Eastern  Mediterra- 
nean) group — headed  in  the  United  States  by  Allan 
Robinson  of  Harvard  and  Paula  Malanotte-Rizzoli 
of  MIT — where  oceanographers  from  nations  as 
diverse  as  Israel,  Egypt,  Greece,  Turkey,  Italy,  and  Yugoslavia  are 
working  together  to  improve  their  knowledge  of  common  waters. 
Similarly,  some  of  WHOI's  closest  contacts  in  the  Soviet  Union 
derive  from  our  collaborative  work  in  the  Black  Sea. 

In  this  issue,  Occniuts,  in  its  deliberately  eclectic  fashion,  brings 
you  a  sampler  of  the  sea  flavors  of  the  Mecl — from  its  present  and 
past  physical  characteristics,  through  its  biology  and  the  dual  (and 
often  dueling)  issues  of  use  and  protection  of  its  resources,  to  its 
fascinating  archaeology  (some  of  which,  you  may  recall,  we  ex- 
plored with  "Jason"  last  summer).  The  very  diversity  of  our  topics 
reflects  the  endless  fascination  of  the  area  and  its  limitless  chal- 
lenges to  our  field.  As  our  science  becomes  more  centrally  relevant 
to  social  issues  like  global  change,  and  economic  and  environ- 
mental security,  an  ability  to  integrate  such  diversity  becomes  ever 
more  important. 

Finally,  we  hope  you  enjoy  the  changes  to  our  format  intro- 
duced in  this  issue.  We're  striving  for  improved  readability  while 
retaining  our  thematic  concentration. 


— Craig  E.  Dorman 
Director,  Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institution 


THE  MEDITERRANEAN 


IFrom  the  Bridge 
In/  Craig  E.  Donnnn 
Oceanographic  studies  in  the  Mediterrean  are  im- 
portant to  our  understanding  of  the  processes  that  drive 
the  global  ocean. 


4  Introduction:  The  Med 
In/  Maurice  Julian  ami  Paul  R.  Ri/an 
From  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  to  Soviet  shores  on  the 
Black  Sea,  the  Med  is  a  complex  marine  laboratory  still 
presenting  surprises  to  the  scientists  who  work  there— 
despite  the  long  history  of  research  in  these  waters. 


Cousteau  aboard  RV Atlantis  11 


u 


Med  Desert  Theory  Is  Drying  Up 

In/  Daniel  Jean  Stanley 

The  author  challenges  the  popularly  held 
belief  that  the  Med  was  once  a  deep  desert  similar  to 
Death  Valley.  A  re-evaluation  of  deep-sea  drilling 
evidence  suggests  briny  pools  in  a  relatively  shallow 
basin. 


26 


Water,  Salt,  Heat,  and  Wind  in  the  Med 

In/  Henri  Laeonibe 

Physical  Oceanographers  study  Med  circula- 
tion, heat  and  water  exchange,  and  deep-water  formation 
for  an  understanding  of  the  mechanisms  at  work  in  the 
global  ocean,  many  regions  of  which  are  inhospitable  for 
conducting  research. 


RV  Atlantis  at  Monaco 


38 


The  Med  Is  Cleaner 

In/  Peter  M.  Mass  and  Julie  Zuekinan 

After  more  than  a  decade  of  research  and 


regulations,  the  effects  of  the  Mediterranean  Action  Plan 
indicate  some  progress  in  the  battle  to  overcome  severe 
pollution. 


• 

"  * 


Cleaner  beaches  at  Cannes 


Copyright  ©  1990  by  the  Woods  Hole  Oceanographic 
Institution.  Occnnus  (ISSN  0029-8182)  is  published  in  March, 
lune,  September,  and  December  by  the  Woods  Hole  Oceano- 
graphic Institution,  9  Maury  Lane,  Woods  Hole,  Massachusetts 
02543.  Second-class  postage  paid  at  Falmouth,  Massachusetts; 
Windsor,  Ontario;  and  additional  mailing  points. 
POSTMASTER:  Send  address  change  to  Occnnus  Subscriber 
Service  Center,  P.O.  Box  b419,  Syracuse,  NY  13217. 


Headings  and  Readings 


Fishing  on  the  Nile 


yf    ^\   Med  Biology 

/I     -^  In/  Gnston  Frcdj  and  others 

JL\^s  The  history  of  Mediterranean  biology  is 
outlined  here,  along  with  brief  articles  on  the  status  of 
fisheries  (page  46),  the  plight  of  monk  seals  (47),  a  listing 
of  marine  stations  around  the  sea  (48),  an  explanation  of 
plankton  patterns  (50),  a  discussion  of  red  tides  and 
slime  in  the  Adriatic  (52),  and  a  look  at  how  the  Black  Sea 
is  becoming  more  like  the  Med,  a  revelation  revealed  in 
studies  of  zooplankton  (53). 


Deep  Water  Over  Complex  Tectonics 

In/  KntJn/  S/»?;y>  Frisbcc 

An  up-to-date  assessment  on  the  relatively 
poor  potential  for  oil  and  gas  development  in  the  Med, 
along  with  a  look  at  refineries  springing  up  along  various 
coasts,  particularly  the  African. 


f  ^t    Jason's  Med  Adventure 
w~\         by  Mnrtin  F.  Boweu 

Vy  JL  One  of  the  pilots  of  the  Argo-Jason  craft  gives  a 
first-hand  account  of  explorer  Robert  Ballard's  exciting 
expedition  to  wrest  history's  secrets  from  deep  areas  of 
the  seabed  off  Italy. 


Jason  recovers  artifact 


H^ /^\  Ships  of  Tarshish  to  the  Land  of  Ophir 

/  /'i/  Slid  lei/  Waclisinniiu 

J      Vx   Seafaring  in  Biblical  times,  relating  accounts  of 
treasure  and  terror  in  the  Mediterranean.  References  in 
the  Bible  are  compared  to  marine  artifacts. 


Ancient  anchors  at  Haifa 


Child's  Play:  Bouillabaisse 

In/  Snrn  L.  Ellis 

An  interview  with  Julia  Child,  one  of  the 
world's  leading  authorities  on  Mediterranean  cooking. 
A  great,  exclusive  recipe  for  fish  stew  is  included.  Enjoy! 


LETTERS 
BOOKS 


COVER:  Our  cover  is  the  work  of  Carolyn  Sansone,  a  freelance 
illustrator  and  designer  living  in  Mashpee,  Massachusetts.  The 
photograph  in  this  mixed-media  work  was  taken  from  the  space 
shuttle  (see  pp.  8-9).  Other  credits  appear  on  page  12. 


Introduction: 


This  7  million-year-old  rhinoeeros  fossil  on 
the  Greek  island  of  Samos  came  from  the  dtii/s 
when  the  Aegean  was  a  rolling,  wooded  land. 


The  Med 

For  oceanographers, 

a  small,  hospitable  world  ocean 


f  rocks  could  tell  tales,  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar, 
western  gateway  to  the  Mediterranean,  the  cradle 
of  civilizations,  would  be  a  master  storyteller. 

It  could  easily  spin  a  yarn  about  how  the  dino- 
saurs died  and  how  the  Alps  were  born.  The  remains  of 


t 


by  Maurice  Julian  and  Paul  R.  Ryan 


Poseidon,  tlic  Greek 

god  of  the  sen,  was  tlie 

protector  of  all 

waters. 


Huge  suit  deposits  lie 

out  of  reac h  beneath 

the  Med.  Salt  is 

mined  on  islands 

where  deposits  are 

near  the  surface. 


Neanderthals  have  been  discovered  in  its  recesses.   Neolithic 
inhabitants  made  fire  and  pottery  and  farmed  and  hunted  on  its 
terraces.  Indeed,  much  of  western  history  has  passed  this  rock  on 
ships  through  the  narrow,  13-kilometer  tongue  of  water  known  as 
the  Strait  of  Gibraltar. 

And  Islamic  conquerors  have  used  the  strait  as  a  bridge  to 
Europe. 

For  oceanographers,  the  Mediterranean  is  an  excellent  labora- 
tory for  geological  and  geophysical  studies  and  for  physical  ocean- 
ography, the  study  of  currents  and  eddies  and  so  forth.  Indeed,  the 
Med  is  a  miniature  world  ocean  in  many  respects.  Another  benefit 
of  working  in  the  region  is  that  the  weather  is  usually  pretty  good. 
One  would  suppose  that  by  this  time  pretty  much  all  that  there 
is  to  know  about  the  Mediterranean  would  be  known.  Not  so,  as 
the  articles  in  this  issue  attest.  Earth  scientists,  as  Smithsonian 
scientist  Daniel  Stanley  points  out  (see  page  14),  are  still  trying  to 
unravel  the  geological  history  of  the  two  complex  deep-sea  basins 
that  comprise  the  Mediterranean  proper. 

Just  20  years  before,  geologists  depicted  the  Mediterranean  of 
6  million  years  ago  as  a  vast  desert  lying  some  3,000  meters  below 
sea  level.  The  floor  of  this  desert  was  covered  by  evaporite  salts. 
And  high  ridges  in  the  Gibraltar  region  served  as  a  barrier  to  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  The  region  was  a  vast  Death  Valley,  we  were  told. 
Eventually,  about  5  to  5.5  million  years  ago  waters  from  the  Atlan- 
tic surged  into  the  basin  in  the 
form  of  a  huge  waterfall  at 
Gibraltar. 

Today,  the  concept  of  such  a 
deep  and  dry  Mediterranean  is 
not  universally  accepted.  As  a 
noted  marine  geologist,  Robert 
Dietz,  stated:  "Remarkable 
hypotheses  require  extraordinary 
proof!  That  proof  is  lacking." 

The  latest  thinking  is  that  the 
Mediterranean  was  different  some 
5.5  million  years  ago,  but  that  it 
almost  assuredly  was  covered  by 
water  with  a  high  salt  content,  or  a 
briny  consistency.  Just  how  deep 
this  basin  was — it  is  now  thought 
that  water  from  the  Atlantic  was 

restricted,  but  not  cut  off  entirely — is  still  unclear.  Theories  range 
from  100  to  more  than  1,000  meters.  The  floor  of  the  basin  thus  was 
considerably  higher  than  it  is  today. 

The  circulation  of  Mediterranean  waters  provides  oceanogra- 
phers with  a  model  of  how  the  world  ocean  works  (see  page  26). 
Basically,  cool  surface  waters  with  low  salt  content  enter  from  the 


Atlantic  through  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar,  while 
saltier  deep  water  exits  from  the  Med. 

Demystifying  the  processes  of  heat  and  water 
exchanges  that  occur  as  the  water  comes,  circu- 
lates, and  goes  is  crucial  to  an  understanding  of 
the  mechanisms  that  drive  global  climate  and  the 
"Greenhouse  Effect,"  or  gradual  warming  of  the 
Earth.  Thus,  the  Mediterranean  is  a  major  focus 
of  modern  oceanography. 

The  Med  is  a  particularly  good  model  for  the 
study  of  how  deep-water  currents  form.  Outside 
the  Med,  nearly  all  deep  water  forms  in  polar 
regions.  Because  ice  conditions  are  unpredictable 
from  year  to  year,  it  is  difficult  for  oceanogra- 
phers  to  follow  the  process  of  how  deep  waters 
form  and  move  in  polar  regions.  The  Mediterra- 
nean deep  water  exchange  rates  are  as  interesting 
to  marine  scientists  as  the  currency  exchange 
rates  are  to  tourists  and  businessmen. 

The  length  of  the  Mediterranean  is  about 
4,000  kilometers.  It  has  an  elongated  shape,  its 
width  being  very  narrow  in  places — in  one 
instance  only  140  kilometers  across.  The  Med 
covers  an  area  of  3,000,000  square  kilometers.  It 
is  composed  of  a  series  of  juxtaposed  basins  asso- 
ciated with  geologically  young  mountains.  The  tectonic  activity  in 
some  areas  of  the  region  is  intense,  engendering  earthquakes  and 
nurturing  volcanic  activity. 

Traveling  from  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  eastward,  there  are 
several  complex  basins  of  which  the  most  important  are 
the  Western,  Tyrrhenian,  Ionian,  and  Eastern.  Depths  in 
these  basins  range  from  2,000  to  3,000  meters  with  troughs  nearly 
5,000  meters  deep.  The  Mediterranean  also  includes  several  more- 
or-less  enclosed  seas  with  corresponding  straits,  such  as  the  Pe- 
lagic, Adriatic,  Aegean  (known  for  its  multitude  of  islets),  and 
Black  seas  (see  map,  pp.  54-55). 

Probably  many  Americans  do  not  think  of  the  Black  Sea  as 
being  part  of  the  Mediterranean.  But  scientists,  particularly  Euro- 
pean ones,  generally  do.  The  Black  Sea  is  the  largest  of  the  en- 
closed seas,  covering  an  area  of  452,000  square  kilometers.  It  is 
separated  from  the  rest  of  the  Mediterranean  by  the  narrow 
Bosporus  Straits  with  a  depth  of  only  92  meters.  The  presence  of 
these  straits  results  in  anoxia,  or  a  lack  of 
oxygen,  in  the  Black  Sea  at  depths  greater  than 
200  meters.  It  is  thus  a  scientific  El  Dorado. 

Two  other  major  features  are  the  lengthy 
stretches  of  rocky  coast  and  the  numerous 
islands,  which  cover  4.1  percent  of  the  area  of 


A  ti/picnl  quiet  day 
at  tlic  bench.  Yenrh/, 

SO  million  tourists 
slather  on  lotion  and 

souk  up  the  Med' s 
glorious  rni/s. 


the  sea  and  support  a  total  population  of  more  than  9  million 
people. 

The  Mediterranean  is  bordered  by  large  continental  drainage 
basins  whose  area  amounts  to  67  percent  of  that  of  the  sea  itself  (the 
basins  drained  by  the  Black  Sea  and  the  tropical  part  of  the  Nile  are 
excluded).  Rainfall  and  river  discharge  account  for  36  and  16 
percent,  respectively,  of  the  water  balance  in  the  Mediterranean. 
The  deficit  is  made  up  by  inputs  from  the  Atlantic  and  the  Black 
Sea.  The  largest  rivers  flowing  into  the  Med  are  the  Po,  Rhone, 
Ebro,  and  Nile. 

The  amount  of  pollutants  entering  the  Mediterranean  has  de- 
creased somewhat  in  recent  years  (see  page  39).  However, 
the  Mediterranean  environment  still  needs  special  attention 
as  regards  both  sediment  and  pollution  control.  It  still  is  an  endan- 
gered sea,  although  perhaps  not  a  dying  one. 

The  true  Mediterranean  climate  is  restricted  to  the  coastal 
margins  and  corresponds  to  areas  of  olive  cultivation.  The  moun- 
tains and  the  desert  roughly  constitute  the  boundaries  of  this 
climatic  zone.  However,  above  1,000  meters  in  the  North  and  at 
greater  altitude  in  the  Maghreb  and  Levantine  mountains,  marginal 
climates  occur,  resulting  in  a  wide  variety  of  climates  with  adapted 
vegetation  and  land-use  belts. 

A  long  and  dry  summer  is  a  regular  feature  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean climate;  this  season  is  one  of  high  evaporation  rates,  resulting 
in  water  deficit  and  stress  for  both  plants  and  crops.  Despite  the 
lack  of  real  subtropical  winter  temperatures,  the  variety  of  plants, 
many  of  which  are  exotic,  is  great. 

Rain  occurs  in  autumn  or  winter.  Heavy  snowfalls  are  essen- 
tially limited  to  mountains,  enhancing  the  aesthetic  value  and 


s 


beauty  of  these  landscapes.  The  most  eloquent  examples  are  the 
French  Riviera,  the  Amalfi  peninsula  south  of  Naples,  and 
Mount  Etna. 

Rainfalls  allow  for  the  accumulation  of  precious  water  stocks 
for  summer  irrigation.  The  very  sunny  weather  (from  2,000  to  3,000 
sunshine  hours  a  year)  makes  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  a 
real  Sun  Belt,  with  coastal  regions  similar  to  California. 

Unlike  the  Caribbean,  the  Mediterranean,  which  is  squeezed 
between  the  30th  to  the  47th  parallels,  is  not  affected  by  tropical 
hurricanes.  The  influence  of  continental  winds,  however,  is  strong. 
These  include  cold  northern  winds  like  the  mistral  and  the  bora, 
burning  hot  winds  like  the  Saharan  sirocco,  and  refreshing  summer 
winds.  The  worst  climatic  excesses  are  cloud  bursts  over  moun- 
tains in  the  cold  season,  resulting  in  floods  and  landslides. 

Cradle  of  Western  Civilization  and  source  of  many  myths, 
religions,  and  philosophies,  the  Mediterranean  countries  today 
remain  a  major  seat  of  culture.  The  Med  is  a  link  between  the 
Western  World  and  the  Orient,  a  natural  route  to  and  from  the 
Indian  Ocean  through  the  Suez  Canal  for  trade  and  oil.  It  also  is  a 
meeting  point  between  the  Third  World  countries  of  the  South  and 
the  developed  world  of  the  North. 

It  is  as  well  a  political  "hot-spot."  Despite  the  recent  thaw  in 
relations  between  the  Soviet  Union  and  the  United  States,  one 
need  only  think  of  the  Israeli- Arab  conflict,  Cyprus,  Lebanon, 
the  Islamic  Revolution,  and  the  recent  Iran-Iraq  war.  Recent  events 
in  Eastern  Europe  will  likely  have  a  bearing  on  the  Med  in  terms  of 
trade,  tourism,  and  pollution  monitoring. 

The  total  population  of  the  18  nations  bordering  the  Mediterra- 
nean is  about  376  million  of  which  260  million  live  along  the  coast. 


On /i/ 15  I/ears 

ngo,  there  were  no 

rules  ngninst 

dumping 

industrial  waste 

into  the  Med. 

Intenmtionnl 

cooperation  is 

now  curbing 

pollution. 


Marked  contrasts  exist  between  the  countries  in  terms  of  social 
welfare,  health,  education,  employment,  and  per  capita  income. 

Studies  by  the  World  Bank  forecast  a  high  urban  growth  rate  in 
the  region — 435  million  by  the  year  2000  and  more  than  500  million 
by  2025,  a  large  percentage  of  which  will  be  in  Algeria,  Morocco, 
Turkey,  and  Egypt. 

Because  of  its  rich  history,  the  Med  is  a  storehouse  of  artifacts 
from  ancient  days.  Marine  archaeology  continues  to  contribute  to 
our  understanding  of  ancient  cultures  and  mores.  It  also  supplies 
us  with  visual  art  beyond  compare,  not  to  mention  a  thrilling  form 
of  recreation  when  supervised  properly. 

The  Mediterranean  is  poor  in  marine  resources.  Fishing  and 
aquaculture  have  a  production  of  less  than  two  million  tonnes.  Salt 

production  for  the  chemical 
industry,  however,  is  impor- 
tant. The  bordering  countries 
produce  various  raw  materials 
for  industry,  such  as  phos- 
phates, mercury,  chromium, 
bauxite,  and  cotton. 

Oil  and  gas  are  the  most 
important  products,  however, 
with  an  annual  production  of 
about  160  million  tonnes  (see 
page  56).  This  represents  less 
than  5  percent  of  world 
production.  Italy,  Algeria, 
Libya,  and  Egypt  are  the  most 
important  producers  in  almost 
equal  amounts.  Offshore  oil 
exploration  and  development 
today  is  encouraged  on  the  continental  shelves. 

The  oil  refining  industry  is  twice  as  important  as  total  local  oil 
production  and  accounts  for  about  10  percent  of  the  world  total. 
Although  oil  production  and  reserves  are  high,  the  refining  indus- 
try is  dependent  on  trade-shipping  and  transshipment  of  the  oil 
from  the  Near  East  (40  percent  of  world  production). 

Much  oil  comes  through  pipelines  in  war-torn  countries:  the 
Suez  Canal  has  become  the  major  transit  route  since  it  was  re- 
opened in  1975  (83  million  tonnes  a  year  are  carried  on  this  seaway, 
which  links  Near  East  oilfields  to  the  developed  countries  north  of 
the  Mediterranean).  Oil  shipping  is  an  important  component  of 
port  activities  and  industries. 

The  13  major  Mediterranean  ports  (handling  a  combined  total 
of  more  than  15  million  tonnes)  have  refineries  and  petrochemical 
plants.  Only  a  few  ore-handling  ports,  such  as  Fos-sur-mer,  near 
Marseille  in  France,  and  Tarente  in  Italy  were  expressly  built  to 


--. 


10 


supply  the  major  ironworking  plants. 

There  also  are  new  agricultural  landscapes.  The  change  from  a 
traditional  agriculture  to  a  modern  farming  system  with  greater 
productivity  is  gaining  impetus. 

In  the  old  economy,  much  of  the  produce  was  destined  for 
subsistence,  with  little  surplus  sold  on  the  local  market.  In  contrast, 
the  new  agricultural  system  is 
founded  on  crop  specialization 
for  the  northern  European  mar- 
kets: orchards  of  olive,  orange, 
and  lemon  trees,  large  vineyards, 
rice  fields,  and  liuertas  that 
produce  various  rare  vegetables. 
Greenhouse  cultivation  is  also 
gaining  greater  favor. 

Mechanization,  attended  by 
a  drastic  exodus  of  agricultural 
workers,  use  of  fertilizers,  and 
development  of  high-tech  irriga- 
tion in  the  plains  following  the 
eradication  of  malaria,  are  the 
common  hallmarks  of  the 
modern  agriculture. 

Seventy  percent  of  the 
world's  tourists  flock  to  the 
Mediterranean,  some  80  million 
a  year.  Fifty-eight  percent  of 
world  tourism  income  is  gener- 
ated in  the  Med.  They  come 
because  of  the  sun,  the  fun,  the 
food,  and  the  history.  After  all, 
there  are  the  remains  of  the 
Greek  and  Roman  empires  to 
feast  on,  not  to  mention  devour- 
ing the  first-hand  images  of  a 
whole  legion  of  authors  that 
range  from  de  Maupassant  to 
Durrell,  Fitzgerald,  Camus,  Churchill,  and  beyond. 

The  tourists  also  come  for  the  color — that  special  Aegean 
light  that  sparkles  off  a  limpid  sea  covered  by  a  Mediterranean 
blue.  Artists  have  long  celebrated  the  special  sun-blessed  colors 
of  the  region. 

The  earliest  tourist  centers  are  more  than  a  hundred  years  old. 
More  recent  centers  have  sprouted  up  in  the  last  decades:  for 
example,  the  Costa  Brava  and  Costa  del  Sol  in  Spain,  the  Costa 
Smeralda  in  Sardinia,  Languedoc-Rousillon  in  France,  as  well  as 
resorts  on  the  Balearic  Islands,  Tunisia,  Greece,  and  Turkey.  Malta 
is  now  a  fully  fledged  tourist  island. 


TJic  sen  floor  is 

scattered  with 

ancient  remnants 

like  these  12th- and 

UtJi-ccntun/B.C. 

sliipwrecks  off 

Turkey, 


11 


Fresli  fisli  is 

extremely  vnlunble. 

Most  fishermen 

make  main/  short 

trips  in  small  bonts. 


The  construction  of  long  urban  sea  fronts,  buildings,  villas,  and 
many  marinas  have  transformed  radically  the  ancient  landscapes  of 
the  Mediterranean. 

These  changes,  such  as  urban  growth — several  cities  of  more 
than  a  million  inhabitants  now  dot  the  Mediterranean  coast — and 
the  oil  trade  with  its  associated  oil  spills  have  increased  the  danger 
of  pollution  in  marine  ecosystems  and  damage  to  the  coastline. 

Water  discharge  from  the  rich  Italian  plains  of  the  Po  River 
threaten  an  ecosystem,  a  city  (Venice),  and  a  coastline.  The  cata- 
strophic growth  of  algae  in  the  Adriatic  last  summer  (see  page  52) 
may  be  one  result  of  the  high  concentration  of  pollutants  (nitrates 
and  phosphates).  The  prevention  of  further  pollution  along  with 
cleansing  measures  against  existing  pollution  is  a  priority  concern 
in  the  Mediterranean. 


Maurice  Julian  is  a  Professor  and  scientist  with  the  Laboratoire  de 
Geoecologie  Alpine  et  Mediterraneenne.  Universite  de  Nice.  Paul 
R.  Ryan  is  Editor  o/Oceanus. 


14-19  April  1 99 1  Athens,  Greece 

Major  Themes: 

Condition  of  Major  Aquatic  Habitats 

Fisheries  Resource  Utilization  &  Policy 

Protection  of  Biotic  Diversity 

International  Development  Projects 

Assessment  Methodologies  &  Fisheries  Management 

Role  of  Aquaculture  in  World  Fisheries 

Other  Fisheries  Science  Topics 

Call  for  Papers  available  from: 

World  Fisheries  Congress 
5410  Grosvenor  Lane,  Suite  1 10 
Bethesda,  Maryland  20814,  U.S.A. 

Tel:  (301)  897-8616 
Fax:  301   897  8096 

Co-sponsored  by  38  natural  resource  organizations  worldwide 


12 


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TM 


:  •  WMtWM 

£&^&?&&l 

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»J,*^:^:-A.^ 


If  rocks  could  tell  tales, 

the  Rock  of  Gibraltar 

would  be  a  master 

storyteller. 


An  artist's  impression  of  the 
Mediterranean  Basin  Desert 
Theory.  It  was  thought  that 
about  five  million  years  ago,  a 
desert  landscape  some  3,000 
meters  below  sea  level  was 
broken  by  salt-encrusted  pools 
and  areas  of  high  relief. 


.•••,tW.-A',«ia«Mi  £*<••    -'•'••' **'*e^^-\* '•-*££*& 
:   ::,•  tt  •  ..-writM-      an  rrffi  ^"Of.t  -     !&.£»»•  . 


\ 


-:.:..;,-••    mv &\i?  '  £  "  j*.  /  ^^^'••'^'^m ^ 

t....:;:;^;..--r----.,rj--;;A--^;^  *~  X  X-  'i'^^-.^'- /.:.vl  •-•  ? -:  :'^-v:/  • .'  & 

•     -    •    *  ••".       ••                •               *  e%,   .".         ^JL.        •'"*          ***.                             .*  '             j/J*'*        "*f       •**"*          "    .         '      •    "•    .*•   '      ' .'    •           *     '  •             .'  *                               •'••*..'•>      *-*       *"•»'' J't, 

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Recent  thinking  favors  a  shallow,  briny. 


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k-\':xVj?v!.x 

^.-^wrvv---- 

.•  ••  -  •••;  jy,*isfc 


&i-v-'A\V:?- "--'•?":>• 

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^^:^^^%;;'-:'v^. />••"••.•••;  v:  • 

^m^^^^^^^  - ': 


:•'•—• 

:  '-         vf  ii 

^|tf  H!  Wlfef 

'      ''  ' 


In  search  of 
the  origins  of  the 
Mediterranean 


Daniel  Jean  Stanley 
is  Smithsonian 
Senior  Ocean  ogra- 
pher  and  Director  of 
the  Mediterranean 
Basin  Program  at 
the  National 
Museum  of  Natural 
History  in  Washing- 
ton, DC. 


or  the  last  two  decades  many  earth  scientists  have 

J 

supported  the  notion  that  the  Mediterranean  was  once  a 
huge  dry  desert,  lying  3,000  meters  below  sea  level.  This 
"death  valley"  was  thought  to  have  existed  at  the  end  of 
Miocene  time,  about  6  to  5.5  million  years  ago.  Geologi- 
cal theories  usually  fall  at  a  glacial  pace  into  a  sea  of  controversy, 
and  this  one  is  no  exception.  Today — charging  that  proof  for  the 
theory  is  lacking — many  scientists  believe  that  the  Med  always 
contained  saltwater,  with  only  the  depth  of  the  seafloor  and  the 
water  being  in  question. 

The  desert  theory  surfaced  in  1970  at  the  end  of  the  first  deep- 
sea  drilling  cruise  organized  by  the  Joint  Oceanographic  Institu- 
tions' Deep-Earth  Sampling  program  aboard  the  Glomnr  Challenger. 
Upon  arrival,  the  chief  scientists,  William  Ryan  and  K.  J.  Hsu,  pre- 
sented their  findings  to  the  press,  declaring  that  about  6  million 
years  ago  the  Mediterranean  basin  had  dried  and  was  partially 
covered  by  thick  evaporite  salts. 

High  relief  near  what  is  now  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  served  as  a 
barrier  to  the  exchange  of  waters  with  the  Atlantic.  Exposed  to  a 
hot  and  dry  climate,  water  evaporated  and  the  then-dry  basin 
elicited  comparison  with  a  gigantic  Death  Valley.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  Pliocene,  about  5.5  million  years  ago,  waters  from  the  Atlan- 
tic Ocean  surged  into  the  basin  as  a  giant  waterfall  at  Gibraltar. 
This  dramatic  depiction  lent  itself  to  publicity  and  media  attention. 

This  theory  was  reasserted  during  a  second  deep-sea  drilling 
cruise  in  the  Mediterranean  in  1975.  It  has  generated  considerable 
discussion  among  earth  scientists  trying  to  unravel  the  geological 
history  of  the  complex  ocean  basin  known  as  the  Mediterranean. 
Some  of  the  tenets  on  which  the  theory  was  formulated  are,  if  not 
defective,  very  seriously  in  question.  To  interpret  their  findings,  a 


16 


ATLANTIC/A          WESTERN    MEDITERRANEAN  EASTERN     MEDITERRANEAN       LAC-MER 


LATE  MIOCENE,  10  MILLION  YEARS  AGO 


EARLIEST  PLIOCENE,  5.0  MILLION  YEARS  AGO 


Strong  Thermoho/ine  Circulation^) 

iu5 


Weak    Vertical  Mixing 
*>• 

I2'C 


LOWER  PLIOCENE,  3.7  MILLION  YEARS  AGO 


respectable  number  of  geologists  studying  the  surrounding 
emerged  borderland  as  well  as  subsea  sections  indicate  that 
alternative,  more  comprehensive,  concepts  must  be  envisioned. 

What  are  we  to  make  of  this?  The  American  oceanographer 
Robert  Dietz  of  Arizona  State  University  may  have  hit  the  nail  on 
the  head  when  he  presided  at  a  session  devoted  to  the  origin  of  the 
huge  Mediterranean  salt  deposits  at  the  most  recent  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  Geological  Society  of  America.  He  spoke  for  a  growing 
body  of  respected  scientists  when,  referring  to  a  deep,  dry  Mediter- 
ranean, he  asserted  that  "Remarkable  hypotheses  require  extraordi- 
nary proof!  That  proof  is  lacking." 

These  are  strong  words.  It  thus  seems  appropriate,  in  this 
issue  of  Oceanns,  to  highlight  some  areas  of  contention  in  interpret- 
ing the  origins  of  the  Mediterranean. 

From  a  geological  point  of  view,  the  Mediterranean  is  a 
tectonically  mobile  land-enclosed  depression — small  (about 
3,000,000  square  kilometers)  in  comparison  to  the  major 
world  oceans.  Nearly  isolated  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  Black 
Sea,  it  extends  almost  4,000  kilometers  from  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar 
to  the  foot  of  the  Lebanon  mountains.  One  is  never  more  than  370 
kilometers  from  shore,  and  usually  much  less. 


According  to  the 

Desert  TJieon/,  the 

Mediterranean  dried 

up  almost  completely 

after  being  cut  off 

from  the  Atlantic 

Ocean.   Waters  later 

cascaded  in  at  the 

Strait  of  Gibraltar, 

filling  the  sea  back  up 

and  allowing  for  deep 

waters  to  exchange 

beticeen  the  two 

basins. 


17 


Immediately  obvious  on  all  charts  is  the  highly  variable  topog- 
raphy and  relief  of  both  the  sea  floor  and  adjacent  borderland. 
The  coastline  is  highly  irregular;  and  continental  shelves,  though 
generally  narrow,  are  well  developed  off  the  major  river  deltas 

(Nile,  Rhone,  Po,  and  Ebro). 

Moreover,  the  deep-sea  basins 
In  the  late  1800s,  European  geologists  put       and  trenches  have  distinctive 

forth  a  series  of  intriguing  theories  on  the      relief,  with  basin  plains 
tectonic  origin  of  the  Med.  Testing  these         rf  ngT^'n  depth from less  1 

than  1,000  meters  to  more  than 

theories  had  to  wait  until  deep-sea  4  000.  !t  is  convenient  to  dis- 

drilling  technology  became  available  in         tinguish  western,  central,  and 

this  century  eastern  Mediterranean  prov- 

inces, each  of  which  is  further 
subdivided  into  distinct  basins 

by  submarine  ridges;  tectonic  blocks;  and  the  Iberian,  Apennine, 
and  Hellenic  peninsulas. 

Coastal  and  near-shore  processes  retained  the  attention  of  phi- 
losophers, navigators,  and  naturalists  from  the  time  of  Herodotus 
to  the  Renaissance.  Publication  in  1725  of  Histoirc  PJn/sit]iic  dc  hi 
Mcr,  by  Count  Luigi  Ferdinand  Marsigli — or  Marsili — signals  the 
beginning  of  modern  oceanography,  especially  with  regard  to  the 
Mediterranean.  Marsili's  observation  that  rocks  dredged  offshore 
are  similar  to  those  on  land  raised  a  fundamental  concept — the  key 
to  understanding  Mediterranean  history  lies  in  the  adjacent 
emerged  land  masses,  and  vice-versa. 

More  than  two  centuries  would  pass  before  geologists,  in  a  con- 
certed effort,  would  make  breakthroughs  at  sea  in  unraveling  the 
history  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  prolific  publications  in  the  1940s 
and  1950s  by  French  oceanographers  were  instrumental  in  calling 
attention  to  the  complexities  of  seafloor  structures  and  associated 
sediment  transport  processes  in  the  Med.  Also  during  this  period, 
French,  Italian,  American,  and  Russian  surveys  compiled  ever- 
more precise  charts  of  seafloor  contours  and  depths. 

How  did  the  different  parts  of  the  Mediterranean  evolve?  A 
series  of  intriguing  theories  on  the  tectonic  origin  of  this  ocean 

basin  had  been  proposed  by 

land-based  European  geolo- 

Antisubmarine  warfare  and  energy  needs       gists  late  in  the  1800s  and  early 
drove  modern  scientific  inquiry  into  the         in  this  century.  Testing  these 

11  .  f  ,T  .  1  .,  theories  would  have  to  wait 

geological  history  of  the  region  and  its  nearly  half  a  century  until 

Complex  tectonic  motion.  better  at-sea  technologies  were 

developed.  Verification  began 
in  earnest  when  geophysical 

and  deep-sea  drilling  methods  made  it  possible  to  map  subbottom 
horizons  and  then  actually  recover  specific  sections. 

A  first  view  of  what  lay  below  was  provided  by  gravity  studies 


IN 


in  the  1930s.  The  major  impetus  to  study  the  nature  of  what  is  be- 
neath the  Mediterranean  seafloor  and  its  geological  movement  was 
provided  in  the  years  following  World  War  II  as  a  result  of  intensi- 
fied military  considerations,  especially  antisubmarine  warfare.  In- 
creased energy  needs,  which  led  to  oil  and  gas  exploration,  also 
contributed  to  greater  interest.  Data  disclosed  that  the  crust  under- 
lying Mediterranean  basins  is  nearly  as  thin  as  that  beneath  the 
major  world  oceans. 

Notable  milestones  include  discoveries  made  on  seismic  cruises 
from  1958  to  1964  by  the  Lamont-Doherty  Geological  Observatory 
at  Columbia  University  and  the  Woods  Hole  Oceanographic 
Institution — in  particular,  the  pioneering  work  of  Brackett  Hersey 
and  David  Fahlquist.  These  geophysicists  mapped  the  boundaries 
between  abyssal  plains  and  those  forming  continental  margins. 
They  recognized,  as  work  on  land  had  previously  suggested,  that 
the  modern  Mediterranean  records  the  effects  of  widespread,  geo- 
logically recent  tectonic  motion. 

Study  of  piston  cores  indicated  that  the  upper  sedimentary  and 
volcanic  layers  covering  basins  and  lower  slopes  had  accumulated 
very  rapidly,  in  some  places  a 
a  meter  or  more  every  1,000 

years,  in  1969,  Ryan,  Hersey,     Piston  cores  indicate  sediment  and  volcanic 
and  I  identified  a  group  of         layers  accumulated  at  a  very  rapid  rate — 

distinct  subbottom  deposits,  '  f()  fl  mefer  QY  mofe  £  ^QQQ  s 

particularly  in  the  western 

Mediterranean,  that  were 

estimated  to  be  about  4.3  million  years  old.  These  early  Pliocene 

deposits  were  deformed  and  pierced  by  irregularly  distributed  salt 

domes.  Seismic  profiles  indicated  that  the  salt  was  of  variable 

thickness,  up  to  a  kilometer  or  more. 

At  the  time  seismic  studies  were  opening  a  window  on  the 
subbottom  configuration  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  earth  sciences 
were  experiencing  a  major  revolution — that  is,  the  concept  of 
seafloor  spreading,  or  the  idea  that  the  seafloor  moves  away  from 
micl-ocean  ridges,  where  new  seafloor  is  formed  from  deep  vol- 
canic material.  Previously,  the  Mediterranean  had  been  considered 
to  be  a  simple  remnant  of  a  much  larger  and  very  long  seaway,  the 
Tethys,  which  once  existed  between  the  northern  and  southern 
continents.  In  just  a  few  years,  a  growing  number  of  geologists 
began  to  reconstruct  the  Mediterranean  in  light  of  new  global 
geological  concepts. 

A  series  of  carefully  computed  maps  by  Alan  Smith  of  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  for  example,  showed  just  how  the  Medi- 
terranean region  evolved  through  time  in  a  long-lived  continental 
collision  zone.  While  this  sea  is  largely  related  to  the  oceanic  crust 
between  Europe  and  Africa,  it  would  appear  that  the  present  Medi- 
terranean does  not  really  incorporate  any  of  the  older  (Early 
Jurassic,  or  more  than  200-million-year-old)  Tethys  seafloor. 


19 


The  sediment  core  below  was 
collected  during  the  Deep- 
Sen  Drilling  Project. 
The  upper  light  part  is  salt, 
and  the  lower,  dark  section  is 
lai/ered  silt. 


L 


The  western  Mediterranean  is  probably 
floored  by  a  crust  only  20  million  years  old  or 
less.  The  eastern  Mediterranean  is  floored  by 
older  crust  (but  younger  than  Early  Jurassic).  As 
Europe  and  Africa  came  together,  this  sector  was 
probably  the  last  remnant  of  the  Tethys. 

The  complexity  of  the  region  on  land  and  at 
sea,  shown  on  the  time-lapse  maps  (see  opposite) 
generated  by  Smith  and  other  workers,  could  be 
viewed  as  the  result  of  the  creation  of  continental 
margins  and  then  their  subsequent  destruction. 

et  us  return  to  the  question  of  whether  the 
Med  basin  at  the  end  of  the  Miocene  was 
once  deep  and  then  became  a  desert.  This 
concept  did  not  arise  with  the  shipboard  scientists 
aboard  the  Gloinar  Challenger  in  1970.  Published 
interpretations  on  this  topic  had  been  made  more 
than  50  years  earlier  by  geologists.  These  studies 
called  attention  to  the  importance  of  two  arms  of 
the  western  Mediterranean  that  had  assured  an 
exchange  of  water  with  the  Atlantic — that  is,  the 
northern  Betic  Strait  and  the  southern  Rif  Strait. 

These  early  paleogeographic  reconstructions 
showed  that  the  once-open  communication  with 
the  Atlantic  deteriorated  during  the  upper  Mio- 
cene. Water-mass  exchange  continued  for  a  while 
in  the  Rif  Strait,  but  then  ceased  completely  just 
prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  Pliocene. 

The  story  unfolds  as  we  recall  the  publica- 
tions of  G.  Ruggieri  in  Italy  in  the  mid-1950s  and 
1960s,  again  well  before  deep-sea  drilling  cruises. 
His  contributions,  in  my  view,  have  not  received 
the  attention  they  truly  deserve.  Focusing  on  the 
data  from  the  Italian  peninsula  and  Sicily,  Ruggi- 
eri set  forth  his  Mediterranean  desiccation  theory 
and  what  has  since  been  called  the  Messinian 
"salinity  crisis." 

In  his  "catastrophe"  model,  Ruggieri  showed 
that  after  the  Atlantic  became  closed  to  the  Med- 
a  period  when  conditions  favoring  evaporation 
prevailed — evaporite  salts  and  sulfur  minerals 
began  to  accumulate  in  the  western  Mediterra- 
nean. Some  of  the  deeper  parts  of  the  central  and 
eastern  Mediterranean  basin  became  lakes.  These 
lakes  received  waters  from  a  large  inland  sea,  the  Paratethys,  in 
eastern  Europe  and  the  Middle  East. 

An  unusual  fauna,  suggesting  a  shallow  restricted  environ- 
ment, markedly  distinct  from  underlying  Middle  to  Upper  Miocene 
open  marine  faunas,  began  to  accumulate.  Lake  levels  were  several 


20 


hundreds  of  meters  below  the 
general  oceanic  level.  As  these 
basins  became  increasingly 
isolated,  gypsum  and  salt 
accumulated,  probably 
squeezing  most  of  the  remain- 
ing Miocene  faunas  out  of 
existence. 

Large  areas  of  seafloor 
subsided,  but  some  sectors 
may  have  been  uplifted  in 
response  to  weight  reduction 
accompanying  removal  of 
water.  Within  a  short  while, 
the  waters  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  poured  across  a  tectonic 
dam  in  the  region  at  or  near 
Gibraltar,  re-establishing  truly 
marine  conditions. 

This  opening  was  wider 
and  deeper  than  the  present 
passageway  at  Gibraltar.  This 
flooding  event  is  recorded  by 
the  Miocene/ Pliocene  bound- 
ary, a  time  when  open  marine 
faunal  assemblages  were 
suddenly  reintrocluced  from 
the  Atlantic. 

This  catastrophic  scenario 
thus  was  available  for  consid- 
eration by  the  shipboard  party 
of  the  1970  Gloumr  Challenger 
cruise.  Also  available  to  these 
scientists  were  seismic  reflec- 
tion profiles  showing  the  wide 
distribution  of  salts  underlying 
many  parts  of  the  seafloor. 
During  the  cruise,  they  ob- 
tained more  profiles  of  subbot- 
tom  erosional  features  and 
actually  recovered  salts  from  a 
number  of  bore  holes.  Corre- 


Tlie  Mcd  has  changed  shape 

drasticalli/  in  the  last  180  million 

i/cars.  The  innjor  influences  have 

been  Africa's  movement  relative 

to  Europe,  and  seafloor  spread  ing 

in  the  Atlantic. 


60*1 


SO'N 


21 


lations  with  some  sections  on  land,  particularly  those  in  Italy,  were 
made  by  comparing  microfossils  and  the  chemical  composition  of 
rocks.  The  stage  was  now  set  for  the  rediscovery  of  a  deep,  dry 
Mediterranean. 

Microfossil  studies  suggested  that  the  depth  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean basin  at  these  times  had  been  "deep."  Estimates 
suggested  a  dry  seafloor  as  far  as  2,000  meters  below 
ocean  level.  This  was  5.5  million  years  ago,  in  a  drier  and  cooler 
(not  warmer)  climate.  As  a  response  to  suddenly  lowered  sea  level, 
rivers  feeding  the  Mediterranean  and  canyons  on  the  now-dry 
seafloor  began  a  geologically  dramatic  phase  of  erosion.  Deep, 
Grand  Canyon-like  gorges  of  the  Nile  and  Rhone  rivers,  presently 
buried  on  land,  were  apparently  cut  during  a  great  drawdown  of 
water — when  the  Mediterranean  floor  lay  exposed  1,000  meters  or 
more  below  its  present  level. 

The  sudden  flooding  through  a  gigantic  waterfall  at  Gibraltar 
drowned  the  exposed  basin  floor.  These  falls  would  have  been 
1,000  times  bigger  than  Niagara  Falls.  One  strong  proponent  of  the 
deep,  dry  Mediterranean  theory,  Hsii,  has  commented:  "What  a 
spectacle  it  must  have  been  for  the  African  ape-men,  if  any  were 
lured  by  the  thunderous  roar." 

j 

Present  research  is  not  rigidly  locked  into  the  salinity  crisis 
framework.  New  observations  and  ideas  are  helping  us  to  revise 
concepts  to  more  accurately  understand  the  recent  history  of  the 
Mediterranean. 

A  minority  view  is  the  one  held  by  W.  D.  Nesteroff  of  the 
University  of  Paris,  for  example,  who  favors  a  desert  playa  and 
thin-water-layer  origin  for  the  salts,  but  with  deposition  in  a  fairly 
shallow  setting  isolated  from  the  world  ocean.  As  with  the  deep, 
dry  Mediterranean  school,  he  postulates  an  intermittent  communi- 
cation with  the  Atlantic  and  more  than  a  single  epoch  of  evapora- 
tion of  the  basin  to  explain  the  great  thickness  of  Messinian  salts. 
Nesteroff,  however,  envisions  this  deposition  of  salt  on  a  seafloor 
surface  lying  at  moderate  depths — 200  to  500  meters  below  world 
ocean  level. 

It  has  long  been  the  consensus  of  Mediterranean  geologists  that 
the  shape  of  the  seafloor  and  surrounding  emerged  land  masses 
continued  to  change  markedly  between  65  and  1.7  million  years 
ago  in  response  to  structural  events.  The  idea  that  the  configura- 
tion of  the  region  has  recently  changed  is  strongly  supported  by  the 
recent  movement  of  young  (less  than  1.7  million-year-old)  Quater- 
nary deposits  on  land.  Such  motion  is  even  now  modifying  the 
seafloor,  which  is  attested  to  by  extensive  earthquake  belts  and 
zones  of  volcanic  activity. 

It  should  not  be  thought  that  the  seafloor  configuration  at  the 
end  of  the  Miocene,  only  5.5  to  5  million  years  ago,  resembled 
closely  that  of  the  present  sea.  Surely  it  did  not.  An  ever-growing 
number  of  geological  studies  show  a  considerable  offset  and 


22 


deformation  of  seafloor  in  both  eastern  and  western  basins  during 
the  Pliocene  and  Quaternary.  A  most  spectacular  example  is  that 
of  the  Tyrrhenian. 

The  study  of  this  basin  has  demonstrated  that  the  Tyrrhenian 
basin  floor,  presently  about  3,500  meters  in  depth,  was  much  shal- 
lower in  the  Pliocene.  This 


basin  experienced  a  very  Jf  /g  wof  reaUstic  fo  envision  the 

large  amount  of  subsidence 

during  post-Messinian  time.        Mediterranean  seafloor  of  about  5  mil- 
in  fact,  this  may  be  one  of  lion  years  ago  as  a  desert,  some  3,000 

the  world's  youngest  deep          meters  below  ocean  level 

ocean  basins. 

Our  Mediterranean 


Basin  Program  team  at  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  however,  does 
not — in  the  case  of  the  large  western  basin  during  the  salinity 
crisis — confirm  depths  in  excess  of  2,500  meters  as  proposed  by 
Hsu  and  others,  nor  does  it  support  a  much  shallower  (200  to  500 
meters)  basin  floor  as  indicated  by  Nesteroff.  Rather,  our  measure- 
ments of  the  western  basin  indicate  moderate  bathyal  depths,  from 
at  least  200  to  as  deep  as  1,500  meters. 

In  many  cases  depth  cannot  be  precisely  determined  by  the 
associated  faunas,  which  tend  to  be  reworked  along  the  seafloor 
after  dying.  Thus  applying  general  terms  like  "deep"  and  "shal- 
low" to  these  can  be  very  misleading. 

J  o 

My  assessment  is  that  the  configuration  of  the  Mediterranean 
Sea  at  the  end  of  the  Miocene  was  considerably  different  than  at 
present.  This  seafloor  was  subdivided  in  a  series  of  distinct  basins 
of  variable  topography,  including  some  of  intermediate  depth,  to 
1,500  meters.  These  and  other  relief  features  have  continued  to 
evolve  as  the  Eurasian  and  African  plates  continue  their  bump  and 
grind. 

The  passageway  or  "portals"  through  which  oceanic  waters 
from  the  Atlantic  entered  the  western  Mediterranean  shifted  with 
time  and  did  restrict  flow. 
The  seafloor  nevertheless 

remained  almost  continu-  I  believe  the  seafloor  remained  almost 

ously  covered  by  very  saline       continually  covered  by  very  saline  waters, 
waters  perhaps  one  perhaps  one  hundred  to  several  hundred 

hundred  to  several  hundred 

meters  deep  from  which  salt         meters  deep. 

precipitated  to  the  bottom. 


It  is  not  realistic  to  envision  the  Mediterranean  seafloor  of 
about  5  million  years  ago  as  a  desert  at  3,000  meters  below  present 
ocean  level.  Several  years  ago  I  compared  the  Mediterranean  to  a 
complex  picture-puzzle  that  comprises  numerous  intricate  pieces, 
many  of  which  are  already  in  place.  A  general  image  is  emerging, 
although  gaps  in  some  areas  of  the  picture  remain  fuzzy  and 
indistinct. 


23 


From  research  to  the  effective  application  of  research. . . 


...the  course  charted  by  the  Coastal  Research 
Center  (CRC)  at  the  Woods  Hole  Oceano- 
graphic  Institution  focuses  on  the  multi-disci- 
plinary study  of  complex  topics  in  coastal  areas. 

The  CRC  supports  and  encourages  field  and 
laboratory  studies  of  coastal  processes  on  a  local, 
national  and  international  scale.  As  an  integral 
part  of  the  WHOI  organizational  structure, 
CRC  fulfills  its  mandate  by  facilitating  multi- 
disciplinary  collaborations  among  coastal  re- 
searchers. C7?Csupport  can  be  direct  funding, 
student  research,  stipends,  small  boats,  experi- 
mental flumes  and  field  instruments. 

And  CRC  programs  include  studies  into  the 
assimilative  capacity  of  the  coastal  oceans,  hori- 
zontal and  vertical  transport  of  particulate  matter, 
chemical  constituents  in  seawater  and  sediments. 


For  more  information  contact: 

The  Coastal  Research  Center 
Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institution 

Woods  Hole,  MA    02543    U.S.A. 

Telephone  (508)  548-1400,  Ext.  2418  or  2853 

Telex:  951679 


The  Marine  Technology  Society  Presents 

"Science  and  Technology  for  a  New  Oceans  Decade'1 

September  26-28,  1990  •  Washington,  DC  Convention  Center 


Global  change 
Coastal  issues 
Advances  in  computing 
Role  of  space  systems 
Trends  for  the  1990's 
Pollution 
Offshore  structures 

CALL  FOR  EXHIBITS 
Manufacturers  of  ocean  engineering 
products  and  firms  offering  related 
services  are  invited  to  exhibit 
products  and  services  throughout 
this  conference.  MTS  '90 
participants  will  include 
representatives  of  marine  related 
industries,  academic  institutions, 
and  government  agencies 
worldwide.  Attendance  is  expected 
to  be  more  than  3,000. 


The  American  Society  ol 
Mechanical  Engineers 


Co-Participants 

The  Oceanography  Society 

The  American  Society  of 

Mechanical  Engineers 

Ms.  Susan  Novak-Bracken  or  Ms. Carol  Frishcc 
MTS  '90  Exhibits  and  Registration  Committee 
c/o  J.  Spargo  &  Associates,  Inc. 
4400  Fair  Lakes  Court,  Fairfax,  VA  22033 
(703)  631-6200  -  FAX:  (703)  818-9177 


BLACK  SEA  '90 

September  17-21,  1990 

Palace  of  Culture  &  Sport 

Varna,  Bulgaria 


Sponsored  by: 

The  Bulgarian  Ship  Research  &  Design 

Institute  and  the  Institute  of  Oceanology, 

Moscow 

Exhibit  Stands  are  priced  at  only  $1200 
Includes  shell  scheme,  carpeting,  sign  and  lights. 

Exhibit  brochure  available  from  Windate  Enterprises,  Inc. 

P.O.  Box  368,  Spring  Valley,  CA  92077  USA 

Tel.  (619)  660-0402,  FAX  (619)  660-0408 


"where  East  meets  West  in  a  spirit  of  cooperation " 


SUBSEA  SEARCH  &  SALVAGE  '90 

has  issued  a  Call  for  Papers.  Prospective  authors 
are  invited  to  submit  an  abstract  of  200  words  or 
less  on  a  wide-variety  of  topics  that  relate  to  the 
Technical  Conference.  Subjects  of  the  papers 
can  be  on  any  aspect  of  subsea  search,  survey  and 
salvage. 

Exhibition  at  SSS  '90.  The  exhibition  will  be  in 
the  Diplomat  Convention  Center,  located  within 
the  resort  complex,  on  the  sunny  shores  of 
Florida's  Gold  Coast.  Outdoor  exhibit  space 
can  also  be  accommodated  nearby  at  the  Diplo- 
mat Docks  on  the  I  ntracoastal  Waterway.  Exhibit 
stands  are  priced  at  just  $1200  for  an  8'  x  10' 
space. 

SSS  '90  is  sponsored  by  The  Salvage  Associa- 
tion, a  non-profit  London-based  organization 
with  29  field  offices  around  the  world 
SSS  '90  is  developing  into  a  premier  event. 

fur  more  info.,  conflict: 

WestStar  Productions 

P.O.  Box  368,  Spring  Valley,  CA  92077 

lei:  619-660-0402,  Fax:  619-660-0408 


FOR  SALE,  LEASE,  OR  HIRE... 


EXPERIENCED,  PROVEN  &  ADVANCED 

Untethered  Underwater  Vehicle  Technology 

The  Institute  of  Marine  Technology  Problems, 
Soviet  Academy  of  Sciences,  Vladivostok, 
desires  to  establish  a  joint  venture  with  a 
Western-b?sed  company  to  involve  the  sale, 
lease  or  operations  of  advanced  underwater 
technology.  This  includes  tetherless  under- 
water vehicle  systems  capable  of  mission 
depths  of  6,000  meters,  acoustic  navigation 
systems,  connectors,  electrical  components, 
buoyancy,  pressure  housings  and  related 
products.  The  AU  V  systems  will  be  marketed 
under  the  name  of  Sea  Lion  Underwater 
Systems. 

Joint  ventures  are  the  best  way  of  doing 
business  with  the  USSR  and  favorable  tax 
advantages  are  being  offered. 


If  you  are  seriously  interested  in  establishing  such 
a  joint  venture  with  USSR-based  partners,  please 
contact  Windate  Enterprises,  Inc.,  P.O.  Box  368, 
Spring  Valley,  CA  92077.  Tel.:  (619)  660-0402; 
Fax:  (619)  660-0408.  Attn.:  USSR  J/V.  Windate 
Enterprises  has  been  engaged  by  a  Soviet  under- 
water technology  institute  to  solicit  and  evaluate 
earnest  proposals. 


25 


A  model  of  the  world  ocean 


Water,  Salt, 
Heat,  and 
Wind  in  the 
Med 


by  Henri  Lacombe 


Henri  Lacombe 
is  Professor 
of  Physical 
Oceanography  at 
the  Museum 
National  d'Histoire 
Naturelle  in  Paris. 
He  is  a  member  of 
the  Academie  des 
Sciences  in  Paris. 


26 


rom  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  have 
sprung  great  civilizations  and  models  for 
political,  religious,  and  artistic  developments 
that  have  endured  for  thousands  of  years.  But 
only  recently  have  oceanographers  recognized  that  the 
waters  of  the  Mediterranean  provide  them  with  a  model 
of  the  world  ocean  itself. 

In  the  relatively  benign  confines  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, we  can  study  in  detail  such  processes  as 
deep-water  formation,  air-sea  interactions,  and 
sediment  deposition — studies  that  would  otherwise 
require  expensive  cruises  to  remote  and  inhospitable 
regions.  The  ancient  idea  of  Oceanus — the  great  river 
encircling  the  Earth  that  is  linked  to  the  center  of  the 
world,  the  Mediterranean,  at  Gibraltar — thus  takes  on  a 
new  significance. 


WHO/  scientists 

first  studied 
thcMcd  in  1947 

aboard 

the  research  vessel 
Atlantis. 


5°W 


10' 


15' 


20° 


25' 


30* 


35°E 


N 

451 


40" 


35' 


30° 


•    Surface    .circulation     in.  summer 


40° 


35 


30° 


5'W 


10° 


15° 


20° 


25' 


30* 


35*E 


Surface  circulation 
is  influenced  In/ 

winds  and 

incoming  water 

flow. 


The  Phoenician  navigators  of  3,500  years  ago  are  said  to  have 
had  a  fantastic  store  of  empirical  knowledge  of  Mediterranean 
hydrodynamics.  If  the  legends  are  true,  they  lowered  their  sails 
several  tens  of  meters  into  the  sea  and — taking  advantage  of  the 
dense,  subsurface  outflow  of  the  Mediterranean — easily  entered  the 
Atlantic  despite  the  strong  surface  current  flowing  into  the 
Mediterranean  at  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar. 

It  was  some  1,100  vears  after  the  days  of  the  Phoenicians, 

J  J 

however,  that  the  dynamics  of  the  sea  were  first  studied 
"scientifically."  Aristotle  (384-322  B.C.)  puzzled  over  the  strange 
currents  in  the  strait  between  the  island  of  Euboea,  or  Evvoia,  and 
the  Greek  mainland  north  of  Athens.  A  regular,  twice-daily  tide 
streams  back  and  forth  for  about  four  days  before  and  after  the  new 
and  full  moon,  and  highly  irregular  currents  sweep  the  strait  for 
two  or  three  days  before  and  after  the  quarters.  A  (false)  legend 
says  that,  despairing  of  explaining  this  unusual  pattern,  Aristotle 
finally  threw  himself  into  the  strait.  But  23  centuries  were  needed 

J 

to  discover  that  "seiches," or  sloshing  oscillations  in  lakes  or  gulfs, 
cause  the  irregular  currents  near  Khalkis,  the  harbor  on  this  strait 
where  Aristotle  died,  in  fact,  of  natural  causes. 

Much  of  the  Phoenicians'  knowledge  was  lost,  and  it  wasn't 
until  the  end  of  the  17th  century  that  the  possibility  of  opposite, 
over-and-uncier  currents  was  again  raised.  Count  Luigi 
Ferdinando  Marsili,  in  the  course  of  his  extraordinary  careers  as 
politician,  diplomat,  geographer,  physicist,  hydraulicist,  geologist, 
and  oceanographer  of  the  Mediterranean,  discovered  the  two 


28 


opposite  flows  in  the  Bosporus  while  on 
a  "discreet  mission"  for  Venice.  During 
the  mission,  he  became  acquainted  with 
Turkish  fishermen  and  proved  the 
existence  of  the  countercurrents — a 
brackish  surface  flow  into  the  Sea  of 
Marmara  and  a  deep,  saltier  flow  into 
the  Black  Sea.  He  did  this  by  means  of 
drifting,  neutrally  buoyant  floats  that 
were  color-coded  for  different  depths. 

Marsili  went  on  to  build  a  tank 
divided  by  a  partition  with  holes  near 
the  surface  and  bottom,  one  side 
containing  fresh  water  and  the  other 
salted  water,  to  simulate  the  opposite 
flows  of  superposed  fluids  of  different 
density.  Even  so,  a  hundred  years 
passed  before  the  possibility  of  such 
hows  was  acknowledged  by  all 
scientists,  this  only  after  the  British 
Porcupine  and  Shearwater  cruises  in  the 
Strait  of  Gibraltar  in  1870. 

After  World  War  II,  the  Mediter- 
ranean became  the  focus  of  an  oceano- 
graphic  effort  the  pace  of  which  is  still  accelerating. 
Oceanographers  from  the  Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institution 
(WHOI)  first  came  to  the  Mediterranean  aboard  the  RV  Atlantis  in 
1947  and  '48,  returned  in  1961  and  '62,  and  have  had  a  more-or-less 
constant  presence  ever  since.  Postwar  French  research  was  led  by 
Paul  Tchernia,  who  directed  studies  aboard  navy  vessels  such  as 
the  Elic  Monnier.  During  the  International  Geophysical  Year  (1957 
to  '58)  we  started  working  in  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar,  where  we 
returned  in  1960  and  '61  with  Captain  Jacques-Yves  Cousteau's 
Calypso. 

In  1961,  the  North  Atlantic  Treaty  Organization's  (NATO) 
Sub-Committee  for  Oceanographic  Research  (SubCOR)  sponsored 
hydrography  and  current-measurement  work  in  the  Strait  of 
Gibraltar  with  seven  vessels  of  NATO  nations.  I  vividly  remember 
that  cruise,  with  so  many  unexpected  situations  resulting  from 
most  of  the  vessels  being  anchored  to  the  bottom  for  weeks.  We 
were  to  focus  our  attention  not  only  on  currents — the  purpose  of 
the  cruise — but  also  on  strong  winds,  fog,  and  even  the  drifting 
swordfish-lines  of  Spanish  fishermen  that  got  entangled  in  our 
anchor  chain. 

The  fact  that  cool,  relatively  low-salt  Atlantic  near-surface 
water  enters  the  Mediterranean  at  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  over  an 
opposite  flow  of  colder,  much  saltier,  Mediterranean  water  implies 
that  1)  both  heat  and  water  are  lost  to  the  atmosphere  from  the 


Count  Marsili 

proved  in  the  17th 

cen tun/  that  layered 

waters  of  different 

densities  flow  in 

opposite  directions, 

hut  the 
countercnrrents  at 

the  Strait  of 

Gibraltar  were  only 

discovered  some  150 

years  later. 


29 


Mediterranean,  and  2)  Atlantic  surface  water  is  thereby 
"transformed"  into  Mediterranean  deep  water  during  its  sojourn  in 
this  nearly  enclosed  sea.  The  processes  of  heat  and  water  exchange 
between  the  world  ocean  and  the  atmosphere,  and  the  process  of 
deep-water  formation  are  two  great  problems  in  modern 
oceanography;  they  are  crucial  to  understanding  how  the  ocean 
influences  global  climate.  And  since  it  is  possible  to  study  them  in 
greater  detail  in  the  Mediterranean,  they  have  been  the  focus  of  a 
large  research  effort  during  the 


An  understanding  of  heat  and  water  last  ??  years: 

The  strait  and  sill  of 

exchange  and  deep-water  formation  is  Gibraltar  is  the  last  of  a 

essential  to  fathoming  how  the  ocean  sequence  of  straits  and  sills  that 

influences  global  climate.  act  as  many  stePs  imposed 

_  __  _  _     against  the  flow  and  exchange 

of  different  water  masses  in  the 

Mediterranean  (see  map,  pp.  54-55).  From  the  Bosporus,  the 
sequence  in  the  eastern  basin  proceeds  from  the  Dardanelles  to  the 
many  straits  and  sills  of  the  Aegean  Sea,  the  arc  of  sills  between 
Anatolia  and  the  Peloponnesus,  the  Strait  of  Otranto  between  Italy 
and  Albania,  and  through  the  straits  of  Sicily  and  Messina  into  the 
western  basin.  In  the  western  basin,  the  sequence  proceeds  from 
the  Strait  of  Sardinia  and  the  Corsica  channel  out  of  the  Tyrrhenian 
to  the  sills  and  straits  around  the  Balearic  Islands,  including  the 
Ibiza  channel,  and  finally  through  Gibraltar. 

These  internal  sills  play  varying  roles  in  the  hydrography,  or 
the  variations  in  temperature  and  salinity,  of  the  sea.  For  instance, 
the  Strait  of  Sicily,  about  430  meters  deep  in  a  narrow  valley,  is 
sufficiently  deep  to  allow  the  passage  only  of  eastern  water  of 
intermediate  depths  into  the  western  basin;  the  deep  waters  of  the 
two  basins  have  no  connection,  and  there  are  small,  but  clear, 
differences  between  the  deep  waters.  Since  the  eastern 
intermediate  water  becomes  a  component  of  western  deep  water,  a 
"print"  of  the  eastern  Mediterranean  is  present  on  the  whole  sea. 
Squeezed  between  dry  southern  Europe  and  the  north  African 

desert,  the  Mediterranean  is 
strongly  influenced  by  the 

The  transformation  of  Atlantic  water  climate  of  these  lands.  Rains 

into  Mediterranean  water  takes  more  come  mainly  in  winter, 

than  a  Century  to  Complete  and  is  Strong-        principally  near  the  coastlines 
T      •    £i  j  "/      4.1  •         11-        *.  with  high  topography. 

ly  influenced  by  the  regional  climate.  _    Summ  £  a  J^  each  have 

characteristic  winds,  but  even 


these  are  subject  to  very  sudden  and  localized  variations.  The 
effect  of  Mediterranean  weather  is  to  transform  Atlantic  water  into 
typical  Mediterranean  water.  The  transformation  is  most  obvious 
in  the  salinity  of  the  waters,  and  takes  more  than  a  century  to 
complete. 


30 


In  summer,  low  pressures  over  sunny  western  Asia  and  north 
Africa  bring  hot  and  dry  air  to  the  Mediterranean,  carried  by  the 
etesian  winds  that  blow  from  the  north  over  the  Aegean  and 
Adriatic,  and  from  the  northeast  over  the  Mediterranean's 
southwest  shores.  In  the  northern  half  of  the  western  basin, 
however,  the  Azores  anticyclone  generates  north  or  northwest 
winds  off  the  coasts  of  Spain  and  France.  The  sea  surface  gives  up 
quite  a  bit  of  moisture  to  the  air 
under  such  conditions. 


The  same  intense  sunlight          Wliile  intense  Mediterranean  sun  is 

that  generates  all-over  tans  on  aeneratblV  SUntailS,  it  also  IS  changing 

the  Cote  d'Azur  each  summer  ,    , 

also  generates  a  strong  thermo-        the  temperature  of  the  water  column, 

cline,  or  water  layer  of  rapidly  affecting  rates  of  evaporation. 

declining  temperatures,  at  a 

depth  of  about  30  meters.  This 

thermocline  acts  as  a  screen  between  the  water  masses  above  and 

below  it,  and  evaporation  at  the  surface  has  no  effect  below  the 

screen. 

In  winter,  fiercely  cold,  high-pressure  air  masses  over  Europe 
and  Asia  generate  strong,  cold,  and  dry  winds  from  the  northeast 
that  sweep  over  the  Aegean,  Adriatic,  and  the  northeastern 
Levantine  basin.  Meanwhile,  similarly  cold-and-dry  winds,  such  as 
the  mistral,  sweep  clown  the  Rhone  and  Ebro  river  valleys  and  over 
the  western  basin.  Throughout  January,  February,  and  March,  these 
winds  soak  up  moisture  and  heat  across  the  sea,  resulting  in  the 
build-up  of  dense  surface-water  layers. 

In  the  western  Mediterranean,  water  deeper  than  about  2,000 
meters  has  remarkably  constant  values  for  temperature  and  salinity 
(12.70  degrees  Celsius  and  38.40  parts  per  thousand).  So  constant, 
in  fact,  that  in  1970  a  working  group  of  United  Nations 
Educational,  Scientific,  and  Cultural  Organization's  (UNESCO) 
International  Oceanographic  Commission  (IOC)  raised  the 
possibility  of  using  it  as  a  standard  salinity  reference.  But  research 
cruises  in  1972  and  '73  revealed  a  new  phenomenon:  an  occasional 
bottom  layer  below  2,000 
meters  that  was  somewhat  r        jT., 

no  „„  Satellite  imagery  ewes  important 

warmer  (12.73  degrees  Celsius)  J  r 

and  saltier  (38.42  parts  per  information  on  eddy  formation  and 

thousand)  than  the  duration,  coastal  llpivelling,  and  wind- 

reference,  induced  currents. 

The  mysterious  layer 
disappeared  in  1974  and  1975, 

but  recent  cruises  in  the  Gulf  of  Genoa  and  off  the  west  coast  of 
Sardinia  showed  still  warmer  and  saltier  anomalies  in  very 
localized  areas.  Scientists  are  now  faced  with  the  possibility  that 
these  anomalies  are  linked  to  a  trend  toward  warmer  climate. 

The  various  water  masses  interacting  with  each  other  and  the 

(continued  on  page  34) 


31 


Deep-Water  Formation 


•    >m 
• .  £&^ 


North  Atlantic  Ocean 


During  the  heal  of 
summer.  Mediterra- 
nean surface  waters 
lose  much  moisture  to 
the  atmosphere, 
resulting  iu  a  relatively 
dense  and  salt)  surface 
layer  by  autumn. 
During  the  winter,  dry 
Arctic  winds  cool  this 
la)er.  making  it  dense 
enough  to  sink  through 
the  water  column.    This 
process  results  in  three 
identifiable  water 
masses:    Riviera 
\\  inter  \\  ater.   Vdriatic 
Deep  \\  ater.  and  Le- 
vantine Winter  Water. 


32 


in  the  Mediterranean 


6 


l,c\  antiiu 
\\  inter 
\\  at»>r 


Eastern  Basin  Deep  watei 


The  portion  ot'Le- 
•vantine  Winter  Water 
that  does  not  mix  with 
the  Adriatic  Deep 
Water  is  known  as  Le- 
vantine Intermediate 
Water;  it  is  the  densest 
water  in  the  eastern 
basin  to  find  its  way 
into  the  western  basin. 
Adriatic  Deep  Water  is 
too  dense  to  make  it 
over  the  Strait  of  Sicily 
and  into  the  western 
basin. 

In  the  western  basin. 
Riviera  Winter  Water 
and  Levantine  Interme- 
diate Water  remain 
identifiable  until  the) 
pass  side-by-side 
through  the  Strait  of 
Gibraltar  and  into  the 
North  Atlantic  Ocean. 


33 


On  one  side 

of  a  cape 

in  France, 

the  tourist 

may  find 

the  water 

too  cold 

to  enter, 

while  on 

the  other 

it  invites 

a  dip. 


Mediterranean  climate  give  rise  to  general  circulation  patterns 
recognized  by  Marsili  back  in  the  early  18th  century.  The  patterns 
are  of  course  far  more  complex  than  Marsili's  description;  and 
because  the  Mediterranean  is  such  a  focus  of  modern 
oceanography,  currents  can  be  related  to  bottom  topography  and 
day-to-day  weather  changes  with  a  precision  undreamed  of  in 
Marsili's  time.  Other  oceanographers  can  then  use  this  information 
to  explain  the  behavior  of  currents  elsewhere. 

Satellite  images  are  especially  appropriate  for  the 
Mediterranean,  where  the  skies  are  often  clear,  and  depict  such 
surface  phenomena  as  eddies  and  thermal  fronts,  which  exist  on  a 
scale  of  10  to  100  kilometers.  For  instance,  satellite  images  of  the 
anticyclonic  eddy  in  the  western  Alboran  Sea  give  indications 
about  its  movement  in  time,  which  is  probably  linked  to  weather 
conditions. 

Satellites  also  have  given  us  information  about  the  Algerian 
Current,  which  is  very  far  from  being  a  regular  flow;  eddies  form 
eastward  of  about  1  degree  East,  and  grow  to  250  kilometers  across 
and  1,000  meters  deep.  In  the  eastern  basin,  the  surface  circulation 
flowing  to  the  east-southeast  in  the  Strait  of  Sicily  is  generally 
cyclonic  except  for  a  large  anticyclonic  gyre  in  the  Gulf  of  Sidra  and 
an  anticyclonic  eddy  that  a  satellite  detected  in  the  "lee"  of  the 
Cyrenaica  peninsula.  In  summer,  during  the  etesian  winds, 
Aegean  surface  water  flows  out  over  the  sills  between  eastern  Crete 
and  the  islands  of  Karpathos  and  Kasos;  this  current  sometimes 
generates  eddies  in  the  lee  of  the  islands,  particularly  south  of 
Crete. 


S 


atellite  imagery  also  has  pointed  out  an  interesting  coastal 
phenomenon:  extremely  localized  upwelling  and 
downwelling.  When  mistral  or  tramontane  winds  are 


blowing  nearly  perpendicular  to  the  coast  of  the  Golfe  du  Lion, 
patterns  of  upwelling  and  downwelling  develop  that  are  related  to 
coastal  promontories.  Theoretical  studies  explain  the  phenomenon, 
which  occurs  about  a  day  after  the  winds  begin.  Thus,  some 
tourists  who  wouldn't  brave  the  18-degree  Celsius  water  on  one 
side  of  a  small  cape  may  not  believe  their  friends,  who,  staying  at  a 
resort  on  the  other  side,  might  have  enjoyed  long  swims  in  24- 
deerree  water  on  the  verv  same  dav! 

J  -• 

The  intermediate  and  deep  waters  of  both  basins  appear  to 
follow  cyclonic  paths,  although  small  eddies  of  intermediate  water 
occasionally  break  off  the  main  circulation  in  the  northern  Ionian. 
A  1989  report  from  the  Physical  Oceanography  in  the  Eastern 
Mediterranean  (POEM)  project  details  deep-water  circulation  in  the 
eastern  basin,  where  Adriatic  Deep  Water  flows  along  the  Italian 
continental  slope  in  the  northwest  Ionian. 

The  existence  of  the  opposite,  over-and-under  currents  of 
different  salinity  at  Gibraltar  reveals  the  Mediterranean  to  be  a 
concentration  basin — that  is,  the  Mediterranean  loses  more  water 


34 


From  space  it  is  easif  to 
sec  Atlantic  water 

flowing  in  through  the 

Strait  of  Gibraltar 

(upward  from  lower 

left).  TJie  numbers 

refer  to  changes  in  the 

complex  inflow  and 

outflow  currents  as 

determined  from 

sunglint  patterns. 


to  the  atmosphere  than  can  be  compensated  for  by  rainfall  and 
river  input. 

The  total  amount  of  salt  and  water  in  the  sea  has  remained 
constant  since  at  least  1910.  This  is  because  the  salt  carried  in  by  a 
given  volume  of  less-saline  Atlantic  Water  (salinity  about  36  parts 
per  thousand)  is  compensated  by  a  smaller  volume  of  more-saline 
and  dense  Mediterranean  water  flowing  out  (salinity  about  38 
parts  per  thousand,  or  5  percent  higher  than  Atlantic  water).  The 
relative  increase  in  salinity  implies  that  outflow  volume  is  5 
percent  less  than  the  inflow  of  Atlantic  water. 

The  problem  then  becomes  doing  the  most  adequate  and 
accurate  flow  measurements  that  are  possible  in  a  very  difficult 
section  of  the  strait,  and  calculating  the  absolute  volumes 
exchanged  per  unit  time — obtained  only  after  subtracting  out  the 
effects  of  tidal  currents,  weather,  and  so  on.  From  these 
measurements  and  calculations  come  estimates  of  the  "residence 
time"  of  a  particle  of  water  in  the  Mediterranean,  or  how  long  it 
takes  to  transform  Atlantic  water  into  Mediterranean  water. 

The  first  such  evaluation  was  done  by  Gerhard  Schott  in  1915: 
he  proposed  values  of  about  1 .8  million  cubic  meters  of  water 
entering  the  Mediterranean  each  second  and  about  1.7  million 
cubic  meters  a  second  flowing  out.  This  translates  into  a  residence 
time  of  about  70  years.  Our  measurements  of  1960  and  '61  gave  us 
an  inflow  estimate  of  1.2  million  cubic  meters  of  water  a  second- 
in  addition  to  the  roughly  50  meters  of  swordfishing  net  snagged 
during  September  1960.  This  comes  out  to  a  100-year  residence 


35 


time.  Now,  as  a  result  of  measurements  taken  during  the 
1985-1986  Gibraltar  Experiment  (GIBEX)  project,  we  have  an  in- 
flow value  of  760  thousand  cubic  meters  of  water  a  second,  or  a 
residence  time  of  about  150  years. 

Since  about  1975,  many  Mediterranean  nations,  such  as  Italy, 
Israel,  Yugoslavia,  Turkey,  and  France,  have  carried  out 
ambitious  research  programs  in  both  basins.  Action  of 
bodies  such  as  NATO's  SubCOR,  UNESCO's  International 
Oceanographic  Commission  (IOC),  and  the  International 
Commission  for  the  Scientific  Exploration  of  the  Mediterranean 
(ICSEM)  have  promoted  collaborative  international  efforts  and 
encouraged  the  involvement  of  nonbordering  countries  including 
the  United  States,  West  Germany,  and  Belgium. 

In  the  last  six  or  seven  years,  however,  U.S.  oceanographers  in 
particular  have  really  "turned  to  the  Mediterranean,"  recalling  their 
"turn  to  the  sea"  of  the  1960s.  DON  DE  VA?  (Spanish  for  "Where  is 
it  going?")  is  a  U.S.-Spanish  program  that  studies  circulation  in  the 
Alboran  Sea;  it  began  in  1982.  The  Western  Mediterranean  Circula- 
tion Experiment  is  an  effort  by  American,  Italian,  French,  and 
Algerian  oceanographers  to  study  the  currents  off  the  Algerian 
coast.  The  United  States  and  Italy  developed  the  POEM  project 
with  the  participation  of  Yugoslavian,  Greek,  Turkish,  Israeli,  and 
Egyptian  scientists  aboard  their  own  vessels  and  West  Germany's 
RV  Meteor;  the  project  looks  at  eastern  basin  hydrography  through- 
out the  year  and  develops  circulation  models.  Most  of  the  sea-work 
is  now  completed  and  several  papers  are  being  published. 

The  GIBEX  program,  however,  is  probably  the  most  exemplary 
of  these  projects.  During  1985  and  '86,  it  described  in  detail  the 
processes  of  water  and  energy  flow  occurring  in  the  Strait  of 
Gibraltar — making  this  strait  a  reference  for  all  other  straits  in  the 
world  ocean.  The  measurements  taken  will  improve  our  values  of 
the  exchange  coefficients  for  salt,  water,  and  heat  flow  through  the 
strait.  They  also  will  help  to  determine  more  precisely  the  oceans' 
role  in  absorbing  and  reflecting  energy  from  the  sun,  and  so 
improve  models  of  the  Greenhouse  Effect. 


Acknowledgment 

This  article  is  dedicated  to  our  late  friend,  Professeur  Paul  Tchernia, 
in  memory  of  40  years  of  common  interest  and  work  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean. 


36 


Opportunities  in 


Oceanography 

at  the  Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institution 


Physical  Oceanography 
Marine  Geophysics 
Chemical  Oceanography 
Marine  Geology 
Applied  Ocean  Physics 

and  Engineering 
Biological  Oceanography 
Marine  Policy  and 

Ocean  Management 


Graduate  Programs  with  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology 

Postdoctoral  Fellowships 

Summer  Student  Fellowships 
Minority  Traineeships 
Internships 


For  further  information,  write  to: 

Education  Office 

Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institution 
Woods  Hole,  MA 

02543 
(508)  548-1400 


1930 


37 


i'f  \ 


•; 


TheM 


It 's  still 
diseased, 

but  not 

terminally 

ill 

by  Peter  M.  Haas 

and 
Julie  Zuckman 


Peter  M.  Haas  is 
Assistant  Professor 
of  Political  Science 
at  the  University  of 
Massachusetts, 
Amherst.  Julie 
Zuckman  is 
a  freelance  writer. 


he  quality  of  Mediterranean  seawater  has  in  some 
respects  improved  during  the  last  few  years.  Sewage 
treatment  plants  have  been  built  or  are  under 
construction  in  12  port  cities  throughout  the  region. 
Some  beaches  once  considered  unsafe  for  swimming 
are  now  open,  and  toxic  emissions  from  rivers  running  into  the  sea 
have  been  reduced. 

In  general,  pollution  levels  have  stabilized  and  are  now  about 
the  same  as  those  recorded  in  the  early  1970s.  This  is  a  significant 
accomplishment  when  one  considers  the  rapid  growth  in  coastal 
population  and  industrialization  during  the  last  20  years. 
Thus,  a  sea  once  headed  for  extinction  is  still  diseased,  but  not 
terminally  ill. 

Despite  more  than  10  years  of  research,  there  is  no  overall 
understanding  of  Mediterranean  water  quality.  But  the  percentage 
of  beaches  considered  unsafe  for  swimming  has  dropped  to  20 
percent  from  33  percent  in  1976.  And  during  the  late  1970s,  toxic 
emissions  into  the  Rhone  river  were  reduced  44  percent. 

The  credit  for  this  qualified  success  story  is  in  large  measure 
due  to  the  Mediterranean  Action  Plan,  or  Med  Plan  as  it  is  more 
popularly  known,  developed  by  the  United  Nations  Environment 
Programme  (UNEP).  In  1974  and  75,  UNEP  was  invited  by 
Mediterranean  countries  to  develop  a  plan  that  would  build  on 
efforts  of  the  United  Nations'  Food  and  Agriculture  Organization 
(FAO)  to  combat  fishery  problems  caused  by  widespread  pollution. 

The  Med  Plan  is  a  four-part  program,  consisting  of  legal, 
assessment,  management,  and  administrative  components.  In  1976, 
the  then- 12  participating  nations,  meeting  in  Barcelona,  Spain, 
adopted  the  Convention  for  the  Protection  of  the  Mediterranean 
Sea  Against  Pollution,  better  known  as  the  Barcelona  Convention. 

Later,  four  protocols  were  negotiated:  1)  governing  clumping 
from  ships  and  aircraft  (1976);  2)  enhancing  cooperation  in  cases  of 
oil-spill  emergencies  (1976);  3)  controlling  pollution  from  land- 
based  sources  (1980);  and  4)  establishing  specially  protected  areas 
(1982). 

The  Barcelona  Convention  and  the  four  protocols  were  ratified 
or  acceded  to  by  all  Mediterranean  coastal  states,  except  Albania. 
They  are  all  presently  in  force. 

Several  monitoring  and  research  studies  have  been  carried  out 
since  the  first  Barcelona  conference.  A  study  of  land-based  sources 
of  pollution,  called  Med  X,  compellingly  demonstrated  the  need  for 
dealing  with  land-based  pollutants  and  pollution  transmitted  by 
rivers. 

The  Med  X  study  determined  that  85  percent  of  all  pollutants  in 
the  Mediterranean  Sea  originated  on  land — and  that  of  these,  80  to 
85  percent  were  transmitted  to  the  sea  by  rivers.  Med  X  also  found 
that  80  percent  of  the  sewage  reaching  the  Mediterranean  was 
untreated. 


40 


This  was  not  news  for  the  many  tourists  who  came  down  with 
typhoid,  infectious  hepatitis,  and  other  diseases  after  swimming  in 
the  Med.  In  some  areas,  swimmers  had  a  one-in-seven  chance  of 
getting  a  skin  infection.  The  study  also  found  that  much  of  the  oil 
in  the  Mediterranean  comes  not  from  tankers,  but  from  automobile 
owners  draining  their  used  motor  oil  into  municipal  sewers. 

The  Med  X  findings  led  to  the  adoption,  after  contentious  and 
difficult  negotiations,  of  the  Land-Based  Source  Protocol's  "Black 
List"  that  bans  the  use  of  the  nine  most-toxic  substance  groups,  and 


its  "Grey  List"  that  designates  13  groups  of  less-toxic  substances  to 
be  controlled  by  discharge  permit.  These  protocols  required 
nations  to  change  their  domestic  practices  according  to  common 
pollution  standards,  because  country  A's  pollution  washes  up  on 
country  B's  beaches. 

In  addition  to  the  Med  X  study,  there  have  been  two  other 
assessments  of  Mediterranean  pollution,  collectively  known  as  Med 
Pol,  which  comprises  phases  I  and  II.  Med  Pol  I  was  carried  out 
between  1976  and  1981,  and  Med  Pol  II  between  1981  and  the 
present.  At  a  cost  of  about  $10  million  annually,  the  agenda  for 
Med  Pol  II  is  to  determine  the  overall  effects  of  the  Med  Plan,  and 
to  generate  findings  relevant  to  setting  controls  on  land-based 
sources  of  pollution. 

While  the  Med  Plan  now  bans  or  limits  the  emissions  of  many 
hazardous  substances,  and  requires  states  to  develop  specific 
guidelines  for  controlling  these  substances,  pollutants  are  still 
entering  the  sea  because  few  nations  have  yet  introduced  adequate 
national  guidelines.  Also,  nonlittoral  states  with  rivers  or 
connecting  seas,  such  as  Bulgaria,  Romania,  Switzerland,  Portugal, 
and  the  Sudan — all  of  which  contribute  large  amounts  of  pollution 
to  the  Mediterranean — do  not  participate  in  the  plan. 


Tlic  Med  Finn  was 

developed  to  control 

industrial  wastes 

like  tliese  toxic 

chemicals  off  the 

Italian  coast,  as  well 

as  seivage  and  oil 

pollution. 


41 


One  of  the  early  advocates  of  pollution  control  in  the  Med  was 
Jacques-Yves  Cousteau.  In  1972,  he  noted  that  life  abundant  some 
30  years  before  had  practically  disappeared.  In  those  early  crisis 
years,  scientific  data  were  scant.  What  did  exist  was  often  too 
specialized  to  be  generally  applicable. 

Early  on  in  the  political  process,  leaders  of  less-developed 
countries,  fearing  that  strict  environmental  controls  would  hinder 
their  critical  development  plans,  were  often  hostile.  Algerian 
President  Houari  Boumedienne,  for  example,  commented:  "If 
improving  the  environment  means  less  bread  for  Algerians,  then  I 
am  against  it." 

In  addition  to  initial  opposition  to  joint  negotiations  on 
pollution  problems  between  neighboring  countries,  there  were 
disagreements  about  just  how  clean  a  Mediterranean  was  desirable, 
how  fast  it  should  be  cleaned,  and  how  the  sea  should  be  used  in 
the  future,  not  to  mention  the  question  of  who  should  pay  for 
cleaner  waters.* 

Data  showed  that  while  different  countries  polluted 
differently,  all  polluted.  Under  the  auspices  of  the  Med 
Plan,  developing  countries  gained  scientific  expertise  and 
were  able  to  generate  and  share  new,  more-accurate  marine 
research  data. 

Many  of  the  early  problems  were  solved  through  dogged 
negotiation.  The  Med  Plan  thus  represents  the  foremost  example  of 
how  to  collectively  manage  pollution  in  semi-enclosed  seas. 

As  coastal  population  continues  to  increase,  so  too  does  the 
need  to  maintain  and  upgrade  pollution  controls.  In  1988,  the  Med 
Plan  began  to  put  greater  emphasis  on  sound  coastal-zone  planning 
in  the  region.  The  World  Bank  and  other  lending  institutions  are 
now  starting  to  fund  environmental  projects. 

Ballast  reception  facilities  for  oil  tankers  are  planned  or  under 
construction  in  ports  of  five  Mediterranean  countries.  At  present, 
ballast  tanks  are  cleaned  at  sea  in  specified  areas  of  the  Med. 

The  Mediterranean  is  not,  and  probably  never  will  be,  pristine. 
The  Med  Plan  can  mitigate,  but  not  eliminate,  the  toll  of 
urbanization  and  industrialization;  without  the  plan,  the  sea  was 
headed  for  extinction. 


*  For  a  detailed  description  of  the  subtle  and  adroit  politics  by  which  these 
international  agreements  were  resolved,  see  Haas'  book:  Saving  the 
Mediterranean:  The  Politics  of  International  Environmental  Cooperation 
(1990.   New  York:  Columbia  University  Press). 


Med 
Biology 


From  beyond  the  pillars  of  Hercules 


by  Gaston  Fredj 


<      . 

. 

. 


1 


' 


Pm/ 


These  1915  drawings 

depict  tlic  adult  (top)  and 

larval  (bottom)  forms  of 

a  deep,  blind 

mediterranean 

pol\/clielid,  an  animal 

related  to  crabs  and 

lobsters. 

43 


abundantly  on  the 
muddi/  ^mrt'/s  of  f/ 
r  continental 
slope. 


Gaston  Fredj  is 
Professor  of  Biologi- 
cal Oceanography  at 
the  Universite  de 
Nice,  in  Nice, 
France. 


here  are  few  places  on  Earth  that  have  not  been 
touched  by  Mediterranean  culture,  but  all  the  creatures 
of  that  sea  are  themselves  immigrants  of  a  sort.  At  the 
end  of  the  Messinian  Salinity  Crisis  (see  page  14),  the 
Mediterranean  was  a  nearly  lifeless  basin.  As  the 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  filled  the  basin  during  the  Pliocene  period 
about  five  million  years  ago,  so,  too,  did  plants  and  animals  fill  the 
new  sea's  ecological  niches. 

While  the  Mediterranean  is  poor  in  terms  of  the  total  amount  of 
sea-life  it  sustains,  it  is  rich  in  species  diversity.  Until  120  years 
ago,  virtually  all  of  this  life  came  by  way  of  the  North  Atlantic;  but 
since  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  in  1869,  Indo-Pacific  fauna 
have  started  colonizing  some  niches  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  sea. 

The  relative  scarcity  of  life  in  the  Mediterranean,  combined 
with  the  long  tradition  of  scientific  study  there,  makes  the  fauna  of 
the  region  one  of  the  best  described  on  Earth.  The  Med's  recently 
discovered  hydrothermal  vents,  however,  may  provide  new 
mysteries  for  biologists. 

Deep-sea  fauna  were  first  discovered  in  the  Mediterranean  by 
the  Nigoise  apothecary  and  lecturer  Antoine  Risso.  He  obtained  his 
specimens  from  fishermen,  and  published  a  series  of  papers 
between  1810  and  1827  on  fish  and  crustaceans  living  in  the  Gulf  of 
Genoa  at  depths  of  600  to  1,000  meters.  Risso's  papers  were 
ignored  for  several  decades,  during  the  heyday  of  Edward  Forbes' 
theory  of  an  "azoic  [lifeless!  zone"  in  the  deep  ocean  below  550 
meters.  Alphonse  Milne-Edwards,  however,  confirmed  Risso's 


44 


results  in  1861  when  he  identified 
molluscs  and  corals  attached  to  a 
broken  piece  of  telegraph  cable 
brought  up  from  1,800  meters  depth 
between  Cagliari  in  Sardinia  and 
'Annaba  in  Algeria. 

There  are  about  12,000  species  in 
the  Mediterranean,  and  about  30 
percent  of  these  species,  and  1  or  2 
percent  of  their  genera,  are  endemic. 
The  ratio  of  endemic  genera  to  species 
indicates  that  the  sea  has  been 
colonized  only  quite  recently.  The 
Universite  de  Nice  maintains  a 
database  known  as  MEDIFAUNE  that 
makes  taxonomic  information 
available  on,  among  other  things,  the 
east-west  and  depth  distribution  of 
endemic,  North  Atlantic,  and  Indo- 
Pacific  species  in  the  Mediterranean. 

Species  diversity  generally 
declines  in  a  west-to-east  trend,  a  trend 
that  is  even  more  sharply  drawn  for 
endemic  species.  From  the  surface  to 
the  depths,  species  diversity  also 
generally  declines,  and  virtually  all  the 
endemic  genera  live  near  the  surface. 
There  are  almost  no  deep-sea  genera 
endemic  to  the  sea;  and  the  deeper  a 
species  is  found  in  the  Med,  the  wider 
its  extra-Mediterranean  distribution  is 
likely  to  be.  While  5  percent  of  the 
species  found  in  the  sea  today  have 
entered  by  way  of  Suez,  this  migration 
has  yet  to  contribute  to  the  deep-sea 
fauna. 

Rocky  littoral  areas  in  the  western 

Mediterranean  provide  a  substrate  for  encrustations  of  Lithophyllum 
tortiiosnin,  known  as  "corniche."  Meadows  of  endemic  seagrass, 
found  between  60  and  200  meters,  are  sensitive  to  pollution  and 
have  been  seriously  damaged  during  the  last  30  years.  The  deep 
gorgonian  Isidella  elongata,  which  today  occurs  primarily  in  dense 
meadows  in  the  western  basin  between  400  and  650  meters,  has 
been  found  as  fossils  in  the  oldest  Pliocene  layers,  which  represent 
the  end  of  the  Messinian  Salinity  Crisis.  The  fossils  argue  against 
the  theory  of  Messinian  salt  deposition  in  a  very  deep  basin.  The 
deepest-living  animals  in  the  Mediterranean  are  sedentary 
polychaete  worms  that  have  been  collected  from  as  deep  as  4,690 
meters  in  the  Matapan  trench. 


One  of  the  oldest 
records  of  kelp  in  the 
Straits  of  Messiim  is 
Ferrnnte  Iinpemto's 

book,  Historia 
naturalis,  where  this 
drawing  appeared  in 


45 


The  Richness  of  Scarcity 

The  various  Mediterranean  fisheries  are  among  the 
most  valuable  in  the  world.  Tliis  comes,  oddly  enough,  not 
from  a  great  abundanee  of  fish,  but  rather  a  seareiti/.  Fish 
populations  liave  always  been  low  because  the  Med  is  poor  in 
nutrients.  Since  fresh  fisJi  are  considered  a  real  luxury,  low 
numbers  make  for  high  prices,  which  in  turn  encourage 
overfishing. 

The  fisheries  are  generalh/  small-scale  and  local.  The 
largest  populations  of  fish  tend  to  live  near  shore,  where 
nutrients  are  most  abundant  thanks  to  upwelling  and  coastal 
runoff.  Fishermen  usually  make  mam/  short  trips  for  small 
catches.  Since  independent  fishermen  are  never  the  best  record 
keepers  (especially  when  taxes  are  based  on  landings  in  main/ 
of  these  countries),  catch  statistics  for  the  region  are 
unreliable. 

Nonetheless,  it  is  clear  that  certain  stocks  are  in  bad 
shape.  Coastal  demersal  fisheries  of  hake,  sole,  and  red  mullet 
have  been  depleted  seriously  along  the  southern  coast  of 
Europe.  Bluefin  tuna  migrate  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Black 
Sea,  but  in  the  last  few  decades  increased  fishing  in  the 
Atlantic  has  drasticalh/  reduced  their  migration  numbers.  The 
Aswan  Dam  lias  reduced  nutrients  flowing  in  from  the  Nile, 
causing  a  collapse  in  the  local  sardine  fishen/  and  reducing 
shrimp  catches. 

The  General  Fisheries  Council  for  the  Mediterranean, 
part  of  the  United  Nations'  Food  and  Agriculture 
Organization,  has  been  encouraging  careful  international 
management  to  bring  back  depleted  species.  One  step  to 
improve  demersal  fisheries  in  the  eastern  Mediterranean  is  to 
increase  the  mesh  size  of  nets,  but  a  wide  varieti/  of  gear  is 
used,  making  regulation  difficult.  Many  vessels  deploy 
trawls,  traps,  or  long-lines,  depending  on  the  season  or 
market.  In  the  last  few  years,  Italy  and  Spain  have  started 
using  driftnets — giant  walls  of  nylon  mesh,  up  to  24 
kilometers  long  and  12  meters  deep — despite  cries  from 
environmentalists  that  the  nets  accidentally  kill  whales, 
dolphins,  and  turtles. 

In  the  face  of  unproductive  and  endangered  fisheries, 
aquaculture  is  becoming  popular  in  the  eastern 
Mediterranean,  according  to  Adam  Ben-Tuvia  of  the  Hebrew 
University  of  Jerusalem.  Freshwater  pond  culture- 
part  icularh/  poh/culture,  in  which  several  species  are  raised 
together — is  well  established  in  Israel.  Aquaculturists  there, 
as  well  as  hi  Greece  and  Cyprus  are  raising  rainbow  trout. 
In  Egypt,  fishermen  turn  parts  of  coastal  lagoons  into  earth- 
ponds  called  hosha,  where  they  keep  an  eye  on  the  fish  but 
don't  add  any  food.  These  are  very  productive  and  the 
fishermen  can  harvest  them  several  times  a  year.  — SLE 


46 


A  Prayer  for  the  Monk  Seals? 

J        J  A- r-1 

1  '    '  i  i' 


people  realize  that  seals  live  in  the  Mediterranean, 
perhaps  because  there  are  only  about  500  of  them  scattered 
about  iu  small  groups.  The  largest  concentrations  of  these 
monk  seals  are  on  remote  parts  of  the  Greek  coast. 

Until  the  end  of  the  1800s,  excessive  hunting  ravaged 
their  populations.  Since  then,  their  habitats  (deserted  sandi/ 
beaches)  have  been  taken  over  In/  humans.  The  latest  threat  is 
that  fishermen  have  been  killing  them,  either  accidentally  in 
nets,  or  deliberately,  because  of  their  mutual  interest  in  fish. 

Fortunately,  the  Greek  authorities  set  up  a  marine  reserve 
in  1988  in  the  Northern  Sporades,  and  have  made 
arrangements  with  local  fishermen  to  help  maintain  the  local 
seal  population.  There  are  well-developed  plans  for  other 
reserves  in  Greece,  Spain,  Italy,  and  the  island  of  Madeira  in 
the  Atlantic.  There  also  is  a  rescue  network  throughout  the 
Med  to  treat  abandoned  or  storm-washed  pups,  and  to  gather 
and  disseminate  information.  —SLE 


ceanography  is  a  relatively  young  discipline.  It  synthesizes 
global  results  from  Hie  various  sciences  to  understand  the 
major  lairs  govern  ing  the  pulse  of  water  masses  and  the 
complex  canvas  of  links  in  the  food  cliain.  It  is  not  a  single 
science,  hut  rather  a  combination  of  all  the  sciences  as  applied 
to  the  sen:  biology,  geology,  physics,  chemistry,  and  meteorology. 

The  nature  of  oceanography  makes  it  extremely  expensive,  and  even  in 
developed  countries  data  are  gatJiered  by  a  central  structure  tliat — //;  prin- 
ciple— places  vessels  at  the  disposal  of  different  laboratories.   Working  to- 
gether, these  labs  undertake  large  projects  that  they  simply  could  not  do  with 
their  own  finances  or  manpower. 

Today  there  are  more  than  40  marine  stations  around  the  Med  that 


Marine 
Around 


Country 

Spain 

France 


Institution 


Monaco 


Italy 


Yugoslavia 
Greece 

Turkey 

Cyprus 
Syria 

Lebanon 

Israel 

Egypt 

Libya 

Tunisia 

Malta 

Algeria 


Institute  Espanol  de  Oceanografia,  Fuengirola 
Institute  Espanol  de  Oceanografia,  Palma  de  Mallorca 
Institute  de  Investigaciones  Pesqueras,  Barcelona 

Institut  Franqais  de  Recherche  pour  1'Exploitation  de  la  Mer 

Laboratoire  Arago,  Banyuls-sur-Mer 

Centre  d'Oceanologie,  Marseille 

Station  Zoologique,  \  illefranche-sur-Mer 

Laboratoire  de  Physique  et  Chimie  Marines,  Villefranche-sur-Mer 

Centre  d'Etudes  et  de  Recherch  de  Biologie  et  d'Oceanographie  Medicale,  Nice 

Laboratoire  d'Oceanographie  Physique,  Paris 

Centre  Scientifique  cle  Monaco 
Musee  Oceanographique 
International  Atomic  Energy  Agency 

Stazione  Zoologica,  Naples 

Gruppo  Richercha  Oceanologica,  Genoa 

Istituto  per  la  Geologia  marina,  Bologna 

Istituto  di  Biologia  del  Mare,  Venice 

Dipartimento  di  Biologia  animale  ed  Ecologia  marina,  Messina 

Istituto  de  Scienze  della  Terra,  Catania 

Istituto  di  Geologia  e  Paleontologia,  Trieste 

Dipartimento  di  Biologia,  TrkMi- 

Institute  of  Oceanography  and  Fisheries,  Split 

Institute  of  Oceanographic  and  Fisheries  Research,  Athens 
Laboratory  of  Hydraulics,  Thessaloniki 
Zoological  Laboratory  and  Museum,  Athens 

Institute  of  Marine  Science,  Erdemli 

Institute  of  Marine  Science  and  Technology,  Izmir 

Department  of  Fisheries,  Nicosia 

Marine  Research  Center,  Latakia 

Marine  Research  Center,  Jounie 

Institute  of  Oceanographic  and  Limnological  Research,  Haifa 

Department  of  Oceanography,  University  of  Alexandria 

Marine  Research  Center,  Tripoli 

Institut  National  Scientifiques  et  Techniques  d'Oceanographie  et  de  Peches,  Salambo 

Department  of  Mathematics  and  Science,  Msida 

Institut  des  Sciences  de  la  Mer  et  de  1'Amenagement  du  littoral 


For  locations,  see  map,  pages  54-55. 

*  Two  manned  submersibles  and  two  remotely  operated  vehicles 


Major  Research 


cooperate  nationally  nnd  internationally  (the  major  stations  are  listed  be- 
low). The  oldest  is  the  Stazione  Zoologica  in  Naples,  founded  in  1872  In/ 
Anton  Dohrn  (1840-1909).  In  France,  zoologist  Anfoine  Marion 
(1846-1900)  created  the  Station  Marine  d'Endounie  in  1879,  and  zoolo- 
gist  Henri  de  Lacaze-Duthiers  (1821-1901)  founded  the  Laboratoire  Arago 
in  Bani/iils-sur-Mer  in  1881.  Prince  Albert  I  of  Monaco  (1848-1922)  was 
onc  °f  ^lc  pi°nccrs  °f  far-readiing  scientific  expeditions.  He  founded 
Monaco's  Musee  Oceanographique  in  1910  and  equipped  it  with  his  own 
research  vessels. 

—Guy  Leger 

Associate  Professor 

Universite  de  Nice 

Scientific  Staff      Research  Vessels  (length  in  meters) 


12-25  25-50 

50 

hydrology,  fisheries,  and  plankton  in  Alboran  Sea 

13 

1 

1 

pelagic  fisheries 

11 

1 

plankton  on  continental  shelf 

29 

1 

living  resources,  technology,  and  aquaculture 

N.A. 

4*           1 

2 

benthic  and  pelagic  ecosystems 

35 

2 

ecology,  pollution,  and  aquaculture 

62 

2 

plankton,  cell  biology 

30 

1 

biochemistry,  physics,  remote  sensing 

12 

1 

toxicology,  microbiology 

11 

1 

physical  oceanography,  modeling,  remote  sensing 

23 

chemistry,  biology,  microbiology 

12 

1 

host  to  foreign  investigators,  public  education 

5 

1 

radioactivity,  pollution 

21 

plankton,  cell  biology,  biochemistry 

25 

1 

biology,  chemistry,  geology,  physics 

48 

geology,  mineral  resources,  palaeomagnetism 

20 

1 

1 

biological  oceanography  in  Adriatic  Sra 

18 

! 

biology,  aquaculture,  fisheries,  chemistry 

35 

1 

geology,  volcanism,  hydrology,  biologx 

39 

1 

geology,  sedimentation 

18 

1 

zoology,  comparative  anatomy,  biological  oceanography 

N.A. 

pollution  and  chemistry  in  Adriatic  Sea  36 

oceanic  surveys,  pollution,  aquaculture,  tisheries 

environmental  engineering,  coastal  pollution  18 

pollution,  aquaculture  15 

marine  resources,  coastal  protection  9 
open  sea  oceanography,  thermal  and  metal  pollution 

fisheries,  pollution,  local  physical  and  chemical  oceanography        12 

local  coastal  studies  26 

pollution,  aquaculture  10 

physical,  chemical,  and  biological  oceanography,  pollution  47 

plankton,  fisheries,  hydrography,  chemistry  34 

coastal  resources,  aquaculture  15 

fisheries,  aquaculture,  pollution  20 

pollution  15 

tisheries,  plankton,  coastal  monitoring  13 


N.A.=  not  available 


Plankton  Patterns  in  the  Med 


r 


The  warm  colors  in  this  satellite  image  show  the  distribution  of 

pln/toplankton,  the  ocean's  microscopic  plants  that  form  the  base  of  the 

food  chain.  They  are  eaten  mainly  by  tiny  animals  called  zooplaukton, 

which  are  in  turn  eaten  In/  fish,  so  all  three  groups  congregate  in  Hie  same 

general  areas.  Offshore,  the  Mediterranean  contains  much  less  plankton 


than  the  Atlantic  waters  off  northwest  Spain  (upper  left).  Tlie  $\/rc  in  the 

Alborau  Sea,  near  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  (mid  left),  comes  from  the 

complex  circulation  caused  In/  water  exchange  between  the  Mediterranean 

and  the  Atlantic.  Some  of  the  other  localized  high  production  is  due  to 

pollution  In/  human  activities. 


51 


Red  Tides  and  Slime 


Recently,  the  inciHn  have  described  the  Adriatic  Sen  as 
dead  or  dying.  Thousands  of  tourists  who  normally  summer 
on  the  Adriatic's  sweeping  beaches  are  now  staying  away. 
Two  phenomena  liave  scared  them  off- — red  tides  and  "slimy 
waters."  These  are  highly  sporadic,  last  only  a  few  weeks,  and 
neither  is  at  all  new,  so  the  media  hype  really  seems  to  be  an 
exaggeration. 

Red  tides  are  population  explosions  of  several  species  of 
microscopic  organisms  called  dinoflagellates,  normally  in  the 
pliytoplankton  in  low  concentrations.   Wlien  their  populations 
burst,  the  water  takes  on  their  red  or  yellow  hue. 

Red  tides  have  been  occurring  in  the  Mediterranean  for 
niillennia.  The  Bible's  book  of  Exodus,  in  which  Moses  was 
instructed  by  God  to  set  a  plague  on  the  Egyptians,  may  be  the 
first  record:  "He  raised  his  staff.  .  .  and  all  of  the  water  in  the 
river  changed  to  blood.  The  fish  in  the  river  died  and  the  river 
smelted  so  foul.  .  ." 

These  "plagues"  have  become  quite  frequent  in  the 
Adriatic,  especially  along  north  and  central  Italy.  They 
deplete  oxygen  from  the  bottom  waters,  suffocate  benthic 
organisms  and  fish,  and  cause  a  build  up  of  hydrogen 
sulphide.  The  awful  color  and  stench  are  enough  to  drive 
away  even  the  most  dedicated  sun  worshiper. 

The  exact  causes  of  red  tides  are  difficult  to  pinpoint.  The 
blooms  are  usually  blamed  on  excessive  nutrients,  especially 
phosphorus,  in  rivers  and  streams  draining  into  the  northern 
Adriatic.  Several  factors  probably  work  together  to  trigger 
and  maintain  these  tides. 

"Slimy  waters"  have  occurred  in  the  Adriatic  for  the  last 
two  summers.  They  are  unsightly  masses  of  yellowish-grey 
mucus  on  the  sea  surface,  made  up  of  billions  upon  billions  of 
planktonic  diatoms.  In  1989,  slime  covered  the  entire 
northern  Adriatic  Sea.  At  dawn,  before  tourists  arrived  on 
Italian  beaches,  workers  tried  to  scoop  up  the  gooey  mess. 

Usually,  slimy  waters  do  not  kill  animals.  But  the  mucus 
is  disastrous  to  fishermen  since  it  jams  up  motors  and  nets, 
and  its  sheer  weight  can  tear  the  nets. 

Slimy  waters  were  first  recorded  in  1726,  and  have  since 
been  reported  at  least  16  times,  but  their  cause  remains  a 
mystery.  Two  opposing  views  are  emerging.  Some  scientists 
blame  increased  pollution,  while  others  suggest  unknown 
biological  or  environmental  factors.  As  with  red  tides,  the 
causes  are  probably  multiple.   We  hope  that  all  scientific  and 
political  efforts  will  be  made  to  understand  these  complex 
biological  events. 

— Elvezio  Ghirardclli  and  Adrimma  lanora 


52 


Zooplankton — Indicators  of 

Change 


Zooplankton,  the  ocean's  tiniest  nniinnls,  give 
oceanographers  n  wai/  to  monitor  the  environment,  not  only 
from  place  to  place,  but  also  through  time.  One  of  the  tilings 
that  the\i  are  indicating  is  that  the  Black  Sea  is  becoming  more 
like  the  MY/. 

Oceanographers  have  a  good  understanding  of 
Mediterranean  zooplankton  commiiniti/  structures  in  different 
parts  of  the  sea.  The  western  Mediterranean  is  richer  in 
zooplankton  than  the  eastern,  stocks  are  higher  near  the  coast 
than  offshore,  and  areas  of  coastal  upwelling — like  the 
northern  Alboran  Sea,  not  far  from  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar- 
are  richest. 

Certain  species  live  offshore,  while  others  live  near  the 
coast.  There  is,  of  course,  some  overlap,  since  the  sea  is  so 
narrow  in  main/  places.  Communities  usually  have  low 
populations  of  main/  species.  Below  100  meters,  waters  are 
notabli/  plankton-poor  compared  with  other  oceans. 

Changes  in  these  general  patterns  indicate  outside 
influences,  such  i/>  maior  construction  projects.  For  example, 
the  Aswan  Dam  built  on  the  Nile  in  1966  reduced  the  river's 
flow  of  nutrients  into  the  sea.  Near  the  Nile  delta  and  bei/ond, 
Zooplankton  populations  Buttered  and  the  local  sardine  fishen/ 
collapsed.  Another  big  project  in  this  area  was  the  Suez 
Canal;  new  species  of  Zooplankton  have  been  immigrating 
through  it  from  the  Red  Sea. 

With  its  anoxic  lower  lai/er,  the  Black  Sea  lias  alwai/s  been 
an  oceanograpliic  anomah/.  Entire  marine  groups  are  missing 
from  this  sea.  But  recently  a  series  of  dams  across  major 
rivers  empti/ing  into  the  Black  Sea  lias  decreased  its  outflow  to 
the  Med.  The  subsurface  current  from  the  Aegean  has 
increased,  bringing  along  Mediterranean  water  and 
planktonic  hitchhikers.  So  while  people  are  beginning  to 
stream  out  of  eastern  bloc  countries,  an  unseen  undercurrent 
of  tini/  immigrants  is  making  its  wa\/  from  the  Med  toward  the 
waters  of  Bulgaria  and  Romania! 

-  Elvezio  Ghirardelli 

Professor  of  Zoology,  University  of  Trieste 

-  Adriannci  Innora 
Research  Scientist,  Zoological  Station  of  Naples 


Copepods  are  the 

most  common 

Zooplankton  in  the 

Mediterranean. 


Most  zooplankton 
are  microscopic 

their  whole  lives, 

but  others,  like  this 

decapod  larva, 

grow  into  large 

adults  that  settle 

onto  the  bottom. 


-NX  i 


53 


^>/^^ 


••aph.v 


L. 


.x* 


V 


f 


C-T 


Rhone 


1J 


--\ 


Venice 


-X 


T 


V 


Trieste 


\ 


MONACO    Genoa    Po 
Villefranche-su'r-Mer^OTs^ 
Marseille      N\c^&  tffe 


X 


^    Corsica 
(Fra 


r^^^:4^^v':--;;> 


MOROCCO 


LIBYA 


Soundings    are    in    meters. 

Darker    shading    shows    the    extent 

of    the    "Mediterranean"    climate 

as    indicated    by    the    limit    of   olive 

cultivation. 

The   cities   shown    are    home   to   the 

sea's    major    marine    research 

centers. 


54 


\ 

the  Mediterranean  Sea 


SOVIET  UNION 


£ 


miles 
0          100        200       300 


J. 


0      100      200     300 
kilometers 


55 


Deep  Water  Over 
Complex  Tectonics 

Gas  &  oil  exploration  and  production 
are  hindered  by  subsurface  factors 


by  Kathy  Sharp  Frisbee 

n  the  last  10  years,  oil  and  gas  exploration  and 
production  have  increased  with  cautious 
enthusiasm  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  becoming 
more  intensive  in  the  last  two.  On  a  global  scale, 

however,  these  efforts  continue  to  represent  no  more 

than  a  drop  in  the  proverbial  barrel. 


56 


The  Glomar 

High  Island  VIII 

drilling  rig  nt 

work  in  the 
Mediterranean. 


\ 


v^_  !    JJ       i-j    .  . 

^^..  -6.-1      ^**m 


Oceanic  crusts,  a  thin  sediment 
layer,  and  deep  water  combine  to 
reduce  the  potential  of  offshore  oil 
and  gas  finds. 


The  latest  worldwide  statistics  for  offshore  oil  and  gas 
production  indicate  that  gas  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea  totaled 
more  than  5.51  million  cubic  meters  a  day  in  1988,  while  world  per- 
day  production  amounted  to  more  than  849  million  cubic  meters. 
Oil  production  in  the  Mediterranean  was  more  than  165  thousand 
barrels  a  day,  compared  to  a  world  per-day  production  of  nearly 
15  million  barrels.  In  each  instance,  Mediterranean  production 
represented  less  than  1  percent  of  world  offshore  output. 

Only  20  percent  of  the  Mediterranean's  nearly  3,000,000  square 
kilometers  is  shallower  than  200  meters.  The  remaining  80  percent 
is  mostly  covered  by  very  deep  water,  as  deep  as  4,900  meters,  and 
thus  is  still  considered  a  distant  target  for  petroleum  and  gas 
exploration. 

"I  think  it's  a  spotty  resource  area,  part  of  which  is  known,  part 
of  which  is  unknown,"  says  Donald  C.  Rusk — a  private  consultant 
who  was  a  senior  geological  associate  with  AMOCO  overseas  for  31 
years  and  with  Exxon  in  South  America  for  4  years.  "I  think  a 
large  part  of  the  Medi- 
terranean isn't  prospective 
mainly  because  it's  floored  by 
oceanic  crusts  and  has  a  verv 

j 

thin  layer  of  young  sediment, 
which  offers  reduced  poten- 
tial— that  combined  with  verv 
deep  water,"  added  Rusk. 

It's  really  difficult  to  compare  the  Mediterranean  with  such 
major-league  sites  as  the  North  Sea  and  Gulf  of  Mexico,  according 
to  Rusk.  "In  terms  of  tectonics,  the  Mediterranean  has  been 
subjected  to  some  pretty  extreme  plate  tectonic  episodes  which 
have  destroyed  some  areas  that  may  have  been  potential 
[producers].  As  a  result,  mountains  and  oceanic  crusts  have 
developed  that  do  not  have  potential;  and  then  there's  the  deep 
water  factor,"  said  Rusk. 

"Take  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  for  example.  Although  they're 
exploring  in  1,800  to  2,100  meters  of  water  now,  you've  got  an 
enormous  thickness  of  sediment  on  the  bottom.  In  much  of  the 
Mediterranean  where  you  have  the  deep  water,  there  is  a  thin 
veneer  of  sediment  over  oceanic  crust,  and,  in  other  places, 
nonprospective  sediments  that  have  suffered  too  much  alteration 
through  tectonic  collision." 

Therein  lies  one  of  the  biggest  differences  between  the 
Mediterranean  and  other  major  offshore  oil  and  gas  resource  sites. 
Neither  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  nor  the  North  Sea,  for  example,  have 
undergone  the  kind  of  tectonic  history  the  Mediterranean  has 
experienced.  And  so,  along  with  other  scientists  in  the  industry, 
Rusk  confirms  that  the  prospective  resource  zones  of  the 
Mediterranean  lie  in  "the  periphery  of  the  stable  or  more-or-less 
stable  European  and  African  continents." 


Kathy  Sharp 
Frisbee  is  a 
freelance  writer 
living  in  Falmouth, 
Massachusetts. 


57 


The  Mediterranean  has  been  described  by  scientists  as 
"geologically  complex."  Claudio  Villa,  of  AGIP,  Milan,  Italy — one 
of  the  largest  and  most  active  resource  exploration  and  production 
companies  operating  in  the  Mediterranean  today,  and  the  first 
company  to  initiate  deep-water  exploration  strategy  there  in  1972— 
explained  during  a  presentation  at  the  Mediterranean  Basins 
Conference  in  Nice,  France,  in  September  1988,  that  "Most 

prospects  are  subtle  traps,  and 
many  will  be  found  only  with  the 
.  application  of  up-to-date 

Fewer  than  10  ngs  are  producing,          technology.  These  Piays  will  be 

while  about  75  are  exploring.  located  in  the  overthrusts,  in  the 

The  main  players  are  Libya,  Italy,         deeP  floundered  platforms,  and  in 
Spain,  Tunisia,  and  Greece.  the  ^P-sea  basins." 

The  Mediterranean  s  18-year 

history  of  offshore  oil  and  gas 

exploration  and  production  has 

pretty  much  paralleled  the  almost  tideless  characteristic  of  the  sea 
itself,  rising  and  falling  nearly  imperceptibly  in  most  places.  Its 
importance,  today  as  in  the  past,  is  not  so  much  the  amount  of  oil 
produced,  but  rather  its  proximity  to  western  Europe,  a  large  (350 
million  people)  and  growing  consumer  of  tremendous  supplies  of 
oil  and  gas. 

Well  activity  in  the  Mediterranean  is  presently  in  an  ebb  of  its 
usual  ebb-and-flow  pattern.  Fewer  than  10  mobile  and  floating 
well-rigs  are  producing,  with  as  many  as  75  others  under 
exploration  or  appraisal.  The  main  players  are  Libya,  Italy,  Spain, 
Tunisia,  and  Greece.  Important  companies  other  than  AGIP 
include  Elf,  Eniepsa,  Shell,  Chevron,  Texaco,  Total,  and  Getty. 
Italy's  once-lucrative  VEGA  field  off  the  shores  of  Sicily  has 
slackened  to  three  operating  wells  due  to  water  production 
problems,  though  there  are  about  seven  other  developing  fields 
around  VEGA,  which  predominantly  produces  gas,  but  also 

produces  some  crude.  There's 

some  development  off 

A£  tf">r       i  j  •  Yugoslavia,  but  not  much. 

return  of  $25  a  barrel  is  Sp*n,s  best  prospects  are  in  deep 

necessary  to  make  deep-water  water  and,  though  state-of-the-art 

exploration  economically  Viable.  equipment  has  arrived  to  tackle 

Today's  prices  are  about  $20.  these  zones'  today's  economics 

aren't  helping  matters,  according 
to  spokesmen  from  Offshore 
Magazine. 

Chevron,  for  example,  recently  drilled  to  670  meters  offshore 
Greece,  but  recovered  very  little,  and  so  tapped  the  well.  The 
present  industry  viewpoint  on  moving  ahead  with  deep-water 
explorations  is  that  a  return  of  about  $25  a  barrel  would  be 
necessary  to  make  the  efforts  viable.  Per-barrel  prices  presently 
stand  at  about  $20. 


58 


As  of  May  1988,  proven  reserves  in  the  Mediterranean  have 
been  calculated  at  2.4  billion  barrels  of  oil  and  350  billion  cubic 
meters  of  gas.  As-yet-undiscovered  reserves  are  estimated  at 
3  billion  barrels  of  oil  and  360  billion  cubic  meters  of  gas. 

The  biggest  story  in  the  Mediterranean  in  the  last  two  years  has 
been  Bouri,  Libya's  first  offshore  oil  field.  At  5  kilometers  wide  by 
32  kilometers  long,  it's  also  the  Mediterranean's  biggest,  and  one  of 
the  largest  offshore  fields  in 
the  world.  Bouri  started 

production  in  August  1988,  11  ,.T         /r>          -/v-i  /-•    i  j  •     ,1 

years  after  it  was  first  discov-  Llbl/a  s  Boun  Offshore  field  IS  the 

ered  by  AGIP  through  a  lease  Med's  largest.    It  IS  the  first  of  its 

granted  to  the  Italian  firm  in  size  developed  without  an  American 

1974.  Bouri  and  related  areas          contractor  plai/in?  a  major  role. 

have  an  estimated  reserve  of  5 

billion  barrels  of  oil  and  70 

billion  cubic  meters  of  gas. 

Initial  production  called  for  30,000  to  50,000  barrels  a  day,  rising  to 

about  150,000  barrels  a  day  in  the  1990s.  Bouri  cost  more  than  $2 

billion  to  develop. 

One  of  Bouri's  many  distinctions  is  that  it  is  the  first  large  field 
developed  without  an  American  contractor  in  a  major  role,  though 
limited  U.S.  equipment  and  supplies  were  used,  according  to 
Offshore  Mngnzhic.  The  project  used  Italian  companies  almost 
exclusively  for  product  design  and  engineering,  with  some 
assistance  from  French  and  British  engineers,  and  Koreans  for 
exterior  construction. 

Located  120  kilometers  north  of  Tripoli,  Bouri's  DP-4  mother 
platform  was  constructed  of  61,000  tonnes  of  steel  and  is  anchored 
in  53  meters  of  water.  A  satellite  platform,  DP-3,  anchored  a  short 
distance  away,  weighs  32,000  tonnes.  The  structures  are  operated 
by  Libya's  National  Oil  Company  and  AGIP,  though  it  is  reported 
that  Italy  remains  cautious  in  its  role  due  to  world  political 
sensitivity  to  Libya. 

Reports  indicate  that  the 
Bouri  hydrocarbons  are  within 

the  Metiaoui  formation,  which        The  mdiistrij  rates  Mediterranean 

is  believed  to  be  part  of  the  Oil  and  gas  explorations  as  high- 

Upper  Paieocene  and  Lower  fo  medhim-risk  endeavors.  The 

Eocene  zones.  The  Metiaoui  outlook  IS  for  Calm  activity. 

formation  has  been  deter-  J 

mined  to  be  a  carbonate 

sequence  of  sediments  with  a 

thickness  of  274  meters.  The  net  pay  at  Bouri  is  approximated  at 

107  meters,  noted  by  Offshore  Magazine  as  sizeable  by  any  standard 

except  the  best  of  Middle  East  fields. 

While  Bouri's  DP-4  platform  has  66  well  slots,  with  30 
operating  initially,  the  DP-3  platform  has  20,  and  three  additional 


59 


satellite  platforms  are  planned  for  the  future.  In  addition  to 
complete  drilling  capabilities,  DP-4  can  process  and  treat  the  crude 
before  shipment.  A  225,000-tonne  storage  tanker  will  be 

permanently  moored  alongside 

DP-4's  tower,  and  other  tankers 

Refinery  production  in  the  Med  accounts      wil1  take  crude  from  there  to 

m irket 

for  about  12  percent  of  the  world's  total  Bouri,s  electronics  are  state. 

of  72.9  million  barrels  a  day.  of-the-art,  with  duplicate 

control  room  capability  onshore 
at  Tripoli,  as  well  as  the 

potential  for  unmanned  operations  throughout  the  processing 
chain.  DP-4  is  also  equipped  with  telemetry  and  satellite 
communications.  Complex  process  control  and  alarm  systems  are 
likewise  built-in  in  case  of  an  accident. 

Environmental  concerns  relative  to  oil  and  gas  exploration  and 
development  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea  are  minimal  at  this  time  for 
two  reasons. 

One,  refinery  production  in  the  overall  Mediterranean  region 
accounts  for  about  12  percent  of  the  world's  total  production  of  72.9 
million  barrels  a  day.  Refineries  operating  at  varying  points  nearer 
the  perimeter  of  the  sea  itself  number  less  than  30. 

Two,  the  marginal  subsea  work  being  done  is  strictly  regulated 
for  air  and  biological  pollution  by  the  individual  host  countries 
which  contract  with  drilling  companies,  and  by  the  big  European 
oil  companies  themselves,  such  as  AGIP  of  Italy,  and  Total  and  Elf 
of  France.  Countries  and  companies  both  are  cautious  because  they 
recognize  the  Mediterranean  Sea  is  essentially  a  closed  body  of 

O  J  J 

water  with  little  ebb-ancl-flow  filtration  capability. 

On  the  whole,  the  Mediterranean  is  still  viewed  by  industry 
professionals  as  a  high-risk  find,  with  the  exception  of  such  areas  as 
offshore  Sicily,  Malta,  Libya,  and  Tunisia,  which  have  proved  to  be 
medium-risk  finds.  Until  state-of-the-art  technology  meets  the 
industry's  determined  economic  need,  it  appears  that  oil  and  gas 
exploration  and  development  in  the  Mediterranean  will  remain 
relatively  calm. 


60 


Adventure 


Unexpected 

events  at  sea 

challenge 

W HOI's 

deep-sea 

explorers 


by  Martin  F.  Bowen 


tanding  three  decks  above 
the  fantail  of  the  Star 
Hercules,  facing  aft,  I  took  a 
"before"  photograph  of  the 
vacant  50-meter  deck.  In  less  than  a 
week,  that  deck  would  be  home  to  the 
Jason  Project's  mobile  operations  complex. 
Here  in  Hull,  England,  shipyard  welders 


The . 

collected  several 
objects  from  Isis,  a 

4th-centun/  A.D. 
Roman  shipwreck, 

including  this 

small  grain-worn 

grinding  stone  (36 

centimeters  wide). 


On  the  last  dm/  at 
the  archaeological 

site,  the  niitJior 

experimented  with 

a  small  collection 

device  on  Jason 

and  retrieved  this 

fragile,  12- 

centinieter-!ong 

ceramic  oil-lamp 

(viewed  from  top, 

side,  and  bottom). 


were  gearing  up  for  five  days  and  nights  of  man-made  smoke  and 
lightning  to  create  a  miniature  city  of  shipping  containers  weighing 
more  than  80  tonnes. 

Our  shipboard  "Jason-town"  was  founded  on  April  9th,  1989, 
after  eight  years  of  development  by  Robert  D.  Ballarcl  and  the 
Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institution's  Deep  Submergence 
Laboratory  (DSL).  Joining  us  were  the  Turner  Broadcasting 
Corporation,  the  Electronic  Data  Systems  Corporation  (EDS),  the 


62 


National  Geographic  Society,  the  U.S.  Navy's  Submarine 
Development  Group  One,  the  Marquest  Group,  marine 
archaeologists,  and  six  U.S.  high  school  students. 

DSL's  operations  team  was  aboard  the  Hercules  on  an 
educational  mission:  to  use  "telepresence"  as  a  means  of  rekindling 
interest  in  the  sciences  among  U.S.  students  (Oceanns,  Vol.  32,  No.  2, 
pp.  84-87).  Our  tasks  and  discoveries  were  broadcast  live  via 
satellite  to  thousands  of  students  throughout  North  America. 

In  place  of  a  standard  expedition  schedule,  adaptable  to 
weather,  accidents,  or  equipment  problems,  we  had  to  stick  to  a 
strict  broadcast  agenda:  84  programs,  six  a  day  for  two  weeks.  In 
place  of  our  usual  shipboard  isolation,  we  would  have  thousands  of 
students  watching  us  work. 

We  met  the  schedule — despite  two  devastating  incidents  at 
sea — but  not  without  a  new  educational  experience  of  our  own.  This 
is  the  back-stage  story  of  how  we  did  it. 

The  main  technological  event  in  Jason-town  was  the  debut  of 
our  fiber-optic  cable  (f/o)  Argo-Jason  system:  two  deep-ocean, 
search-survey-and-sampling  robots  controlled  from  the  surface.  The 


The  deep-water 
archaeological  site 
was  strewn  witJi 
Roman  mnphoms 
and  jugs  made  in 
North  Africa  that 
once  carried  wine, 
grains,  spices,  and 
olive  oil.  Here  are 
several  that  Jason 
collected,  as  well  as 
a  grinding  stone 
and  a  ceramic  oil- 
lamp  (middle; 
detailed  sketches  on 
opposite  page). 


63 


During  60- 
knot  ivinds 
and  Force-11 
seas,  the  oilers 
heard  a 
"metallic 
snap"  on  deck. 
The  2,200- 
kilogram 
co -ax  Argo 
had  broken 
loose  from 
four  heavy 
chains  and 
washed  aft. 


1,270-kilogram  Jason  rode  inside  f/o  Argo,  which  is  a  bit  larger  and 
longer  than  a  minivan.  Argo-Jason  was  chained  to  the  deck  beside 
the  original  coaxial-cable  Argo,  the  discoverer  of  the  Titanic  and  the 
soon  to  be  discovered  Bismarck  (Ocennus,  Vol.  32,  No.  3,  pp.  27-35). 
Fiber-optic  Argo  could  out-perform  "co-ax"  Argo  by  transmitting 
four  color-video  images  rather  than  a  single  black-and-white  view. 
Mini-Angus  and  two  Jason  Jr.  vehicles  were  stowed  inside  a  van. 

The  ship  carried  its  full  company  and  a  partial  science  crew  on 
the  13th  as  it  left  Hull  for  Gibraltar,  where  the  rest  of  the  personnel 
would  be  picked  up.  Rising  seas  and  gale-force  winds  were 
predicted  for  the  next  day.  With  millions  of  dollars  in  hand- 
crafted,  one-of-a-kind  electronics  on  welded  risers  onlv  half  a  meter 

j 

above  the  decking  (itself  only  two  meters  over  the  waterline),  the 
Hercules  was  facing  heavy  weather  with  a  cargo  considerably  more 
valuable  than  its  usual  1,800  tonnes  of  drilling  pipe. 

By  the  15th,  the  Hercules  plodded  southwest  through  a  storm 
of  sustained  60-knot  winds  and  Force-11  seas  in  the  Bay  of 
Biscay.  Neither  the  recent  gales  nor  the  storm  gave  us 
trouble,  but  a  distress  call  from  a  10-meter  sailboat  did.  When  the 
Hercules'  captain  ordered  search-pattern  maneuvers  requiring  180- 
degree  turns,  one  of  the  turns — coupled  with  impressive  wave 
heights  and  unlucky  timing — brought  a  monstrous  wave  across 
her  starboard  side. 

A  frightened  call  came  from  the  engine  room  to  the  bridge 
where  we  were  watching  for  the  sailboat:  the  oilers  had  heard  a 
"metallic  snap"  on  deck.  The  2,200-kilogram  co-ax  Argo  had 
broken  loose  from  four  heavy  chains  and  washed  aft  toward  f/o 
Argo.  Obstacles  in  co-ax  Argo's  path  slowed  and  finally  stopped 
the  unbridled  slide.  When  we  got  to  the  deck,  we  looked  up  at 
12-meter  wave  crests. 

During  our  emergency,  news  came  that  the  sailboat  crew  had 
abandoned  ship  for  their  inflatable  life  raft,  where  one  was  to  die  of 
exposure.  A  few  hours  later,  a  German  freighter  rescued  the 
survivors  from  the  raft.  Their  sailboat  hadn't  sunk.  As  seasoned 
mariners,  we  knew  that  the  man  who  perished  from  exposure  may 
have  lived  had  the  crew  stayed  with  the  vessel.  We  felt  their  loss: 
the  severe  consequence  of  lonely  decisions  born  of  panic. 

The  now-infamous  "rogue  wave"  crushed  two  vehicle-retrieval 
winches,  or  "tuggers,"  misaligning  their  steel  pedestals;  damaged 
the  frame  of  co-ax  Argo;  tore  the  ventilation  assemblies  on  the  EDS 
satellite  van;  drove  the  remains  of  an  air-conditioner  through  the 
wall  of  the  DSL  tool  van;  made  mincemeat  of  expensive  fiber-optics 
testing  equipment;  flooded  an  electro-optical  slip-ring;  soaked 
toolboxes;  and  filled  a  winch-electronics  junction-box  that  now 
would  have  made  a  dandy  aquarium. 

During  the  rest  of  the  transit  to  Gibraltar,  all  able-bodies  rebuilt 
salvageable  equipment.  Ocean  Engineer  Bob  Elder  bandaged 


64 


together  our  portable  fiber-optic  laser  from  a  few  components  not 
consumed  by  frothing,  saltwater-soaked  nickel-cadmium  batteries. 
Project  manager  Andy  Bowen  assessed  the  saltwater  damage  to  the 
electro-optical  slip-ring,  another  space-age  machine  sold  without 
"user-serviceable  parts."  Electrical  wizards  Bill  Hersey  of  DSL  and 
Bob  Buhro  of  EDS,  with  no  prior  knowledge  of  its  design,  revived 
the  winch  junction-box.  Diesel  specialist  Frank  Smith  rebuilt  the 
tugger  pedestals.  Curt  Murphy  and  navy  volunteers  did  body 
work  on  co-ax  Argo.  Skip  Gleason  tried  to  save  the  traumatized 
tuggers,  but  finally  had  to  give  them  their  last  rites,  and  called  ship- 
to-shore  for  two  new  units  from  France.  I  gutted,  dried,  and 
reopened  the  fractured  tool  van — our  sea-going  hardware  store. 

All  repairs  were  completed  in  time  to  deploy  f/o  Argo-Jason  in 
about  700  meters  of  Mediterranean  water  on  a  "full-up,"  high- 
voltage  test.  Once  at  depth,  the  free-swimming  Jason  remotely 
operated  vehicle  (ROV)  left  the  towed  Argo  garage  and  "flew"  via 
joystick  commands  sent  to  its  seven  thrusters. 

The  Hercules  feathered  her  thrusters  to  hover  in  a  computer- 
generated,  or  dynamically  positioned,  stance  over  Skerki 
Bank,  near  the  Sicilian  Channel.  Dana  Yoerger,  graduate 
student  Franz  Hover,  and  veteran  DSL  deep-water  guide  Tom 
Crook  navigated  with  data  from  global-positioning  satellites, 
Loran-C  stations,  and  long-baseline  transponders.  Although  they 
had  worked  with  the  ship's  system  for  only  a  week,  they  kept  her 
in  a  tight  holding  pattern,  never  more  than  three  meters  off  target. 

A  high,  rolling  sea  pestered  the  Hercules — approximate  sea- 
state  4,  long  swells  with  a  six-second  period,  light  chop  on  top.  On 
the  third  test-lowering,  one  week  before  live  TV  transmissions  were 
to  start,  we  lost  Argo  and  Jason. 

Just  below  the  surface,  with  Jason  still  inside  f/o  Argo's  garage, 
the  vehicles'  armored  tow-cable  snapped  with  a  toneless  "thump." 
The  ship's  deck  shook  for  an  instant.  TV  displays  from  subsea 
cameras  went  black.  The  cable  pulley  at  the  A-frame  peak  wagged 
briefly,  no  longer  supporting  the  3,300-kilogram  vehicle  cluster  that 
was  now  free-falling  at  24  kilometers  an  hour  to  the  muddy  bottom 
725  meters  below.  Gone,  just  like  that.  The  silence  was  deafening. 

Was  Jason  still  inside  Argo?  If  not,  would  Jason's  reinforced 
tether  remain  attached  to  Argo,  preventing  the  neutrally  buoyant 
ROV  from  wandering  for  decades  in  deep  currents?  Were  the 
vehicles  upright  or  toppled?  A  survival  instinct — calm  though 
troubled — lessened  our  sense  of  tragedy.  Over  the  satellite  link,  we 
heard  disturbing  news  that  younger  students  thought  Jason  had 
"died."  "Let's  get  them  back,"  Ballard  said. 

The  missing  Argo  was  nicknamed  "Hugo,"  short  for  huge 
Argo.  That  brought  a  few  smiles.  For  the  DSL  operations  team, 
there  would  be  strength  in  humor,  but  little  rest  until  both  vehicles 
were  recovered. 


The  largest  amphora 
collected  from  Isis 

was  this  36- 
centimeter-wide 

specimen. 


This  two-handled  jug 

was  intact,  which 

made  it  a  rare  and 

exciting  find  for 

archaeologists. 


Medea 

is 

dispatched 
to  find 

the 

missing 

Argo 

and  its 

companion 

Jason. 


Almost  immediately  after  the  accident,  we  rolled  a  third  vehicle 
out  of  a  storage  van  and  onto  the  aft  deck.  Originally  called  Mini- 
Angus,  this  was  to  be  our  replacement  camera  sled  and,  potentially, 
Jason's  rescuer.  Since  the  Medea  of  Greek  myths  was  Jason's  wife 
and  life-saver,  Ballarcl  renamed  the  sled  accordingly. 

Our  one-ton  robotic  Medea  would  have  to  search  for  the  fallen 
vehicles  in  the  depths  below.  Bill  Hersey  scribbled  a  hook-up 
schematic  on  the  back  of  an  envelope  to  update  Medea's  wiring.  In 
only  a  few  hours  she  was  water-proofed,  tested,  and  attached  to  a 
repaired  cable.  Navigators  Yoerger  and  Crook  continuously 
monitored  position  information  from  emergency  acoustic  beacons 
on  the  lost  vehicles.  The  signals  suggested  that  they  were  still 
mated — a  good  sign. 

Medea  was  lowered.  As  she  approached  the  bottom,  a  small 
silver  rectangle  appeared  in  the  gloom  of  the  video  monitors.  We 
could  see  Hugo  with  Jason  still  inside.  The  pair  were  upright  on 
the  clay  bottom  with  no  obvious  damage,  their  metallic  surfaces 
reflecting  the  light  from  Medea's  lamps.  Yoerger  and  Crook  placed 
the  Hercules  directly  above  the  stricken  robots  on  their  first 
attempt. 

On  the  second  lowering,  Medea  would  have  to  guide  a 
grappling  hook  onto  Hugo.  In  preparation,  we  modified  the  hook 
by  welding  curved  steel  barbs  to  each  of  its  four  stabbing  tines. 
Once  set,  it  should  not  release  until  Hugo  was  on  deck  and  secured. 
Medea's  camera  would  act  as  a  video  viewfinder  for  the  winch 
operator  who,  in  cooperation  with  the  navigators,  would  try  to 
maneuver  the  hook  into  Hugo's  frame. 

Back  to  the  bottom  went  Medea.  As  the  Hercules  acted  on 
dynamic-positioning  commands,  I  watched  the  subsea  view  from 
Medea's  camera  and  maneuvered  the  winch's  joystick  for  swipes  at 
the  sunken  Hugo.  The  time  delay  between  ship  maneuvers  and 
sled  reaction  caused  long,  tense  pauses  after  each  attempt.  Hugo's 
silver  frame  and  the  dangling  grapple  filled  the  television  screens. 
On  what  was  to  be  the  last  approach,  I  managed  to  bounce  the  100- 
kilogram  lure  over  Hugo's  frame.  In  a  violent  lurch  from  a  swell,  it 
grabbed  the  frame  near  the  worst  possible  place,  the  main  electrical 
junction-box. 

I   hauled  the  vehicle  cluster  off  the  bottom  as  fast  as  the  winch's 
screaming  diesel  engine  would  allow.  Luckily,  it  didn't  stall.  I 
had  to  be  careful  and  relax  the  haul-in  speed  just  prior  to  the 
passing  of  every  new  swell;  otherwise,  the  cable  might  snap  again. 
While  I  played  the  hooked  fish  for  half  an  hour,  Bill  Lange  read  off 
cable-tension  numbers — now  1,500  kilograms,  then  up  to  12,000, 
back  down  to  4,000,  then  up  again  to  12,000.  When  Medea  rose  out 
of  the  water,  I  stopped  hauling  and  joined  ranks  at  the  A-frame. 
Every  available  line  was  made  fast  around  the  two  stray  vehicles  as 
they  bumped  against  the  Hercules'  transom. 

Then,  what  we  had  been  fearing  all  along  happened  at  the 


66 


surface.  Welds  holding  Hugo's  garage  door  split  apart.  Jason 
broke  free  of  Hugo  and  floated  away  on  its  tether;  but  Ballard  and 
two  crewmen  were  standing  by  in  a  small  boat,  and  hastily 
attached  more  lines  to  the  robot  and  saved  it. 

After  23  anxious  hours,  both  vehicles  were  rescued.  Hugo 
was  replaced  by  Medea  as  Jason's  support  vehicle,  and 
after  a  baroque  process  of  hardware  shuffling  and  software 
sleight-of-hand,  the  robots  were  ready  to  perform.  Deck  operations 
were  going  to  be  more  comnlex  for  Medea-Jason  than  for  Argo- 
Jason.  Since  Medea  was  not  designed  to  hold  Jason,  the  pair  had  to 
be  launched  and  recovered  as  a  two-body  system  rather  than  a 
single,  mated  unit. 

The  first  live  broadcasts  of  the  Jason  Project  began  on  cue  from 
above  the  Marsili  Seamount,  an  underwater  volcano  south  of 
Naples,  suspected  by  Ballard  to  be  active.  From  9,000  miles  away 
students  witnessed,  along  with  us,  Jason's  close-up  discovery  of 
undocumented  hydrothermal  vents.  Flying  Jason  around  the 
eruption-tortured  slopes  of  Marsili,  1  had  the  fortune  to  reveal 
panoramas  of  newly  formed  subsea  regions  only  a  few  hundred 
years  old  to  this  audience. 

It  was  a  bi/arre  place.  At  the  top  of  the  volcano  500  meters 
beneath  the  surface,  blue-green  groupers  swam  among  mineral 
chimneys  as  tall  as  a  person  and  twisted  like  trees  such  as  Dr.  Seuss 
might  draw.  Everything  was  dusted  with  yellow  sulfide.  Hot, 
shimmering  water  waved  like  a  mirage  and  dissipated  in  seconds. 

Jason's  motors,  cameras,  sensors  and  manipulating  arm  seemed 
to  improve  in  performance  as  they  acclimated  to  the  dark,  pressure, 
and  cold.  Occasionally,  the  25  meters  of  yellow  tether  between 
Jason  and  Medea  drifted  into  view.   Power,  data,  and  optics 
immediately  combined  in  that  tether  to  produce  sharp  images  of 
Marsili.   If  the  students  felt  they  were  "touching"  the  volcano 
through  our  nonintrusive  technology,  then  we  had  achieved  a  step 
toward  telepresence  in  exploration. 

Jason  took  random  samples  of  Marsili's  fauna  and  geology 
with  its  mechanical  arm  and  claw,  and  deposited  them  into 
baskets  mounted  on  either  robot.  Though  an  organized 
sampling  program  was  not  part  of  the  Jason  Project,  deep-sea  coral 
polyps,  platelet-cloaked  starfish,  a  PJioloc  scaleworm,  unidentified 
fish  larvae,  and  various  small  arthropods  were  all  collected  and 
then  preserved  on  board,  later  identified  at  WHOI,  and  archived  at 
DSL.  None  of  the  animals  were  found  to  be  specific  to 
hydrothermal  vents  and  none  of  the  weathered  sulfide  samples  of 
Marsili  were  new  to  scientific  records,  but  together  they 
represented  Jason's  ability  to  collect  benthic  denizens  and  a  slice  of 
their  substrate. 

The  Hercules  returned  to  Skerki  Bank  for  the  second  week  of 
live  broadcasting.  Here  lay  more  than  50  square  kilometers  of  level 


Jason 

breaks 

aivay  from 

Hugo  and 

floats 
away  on 
its  tether, 
but  Ballard 
and  two 
crewmen 
rescue  it. 


67 


Hydraulically 

driven 

"Knuckles" 

cradled 

artifacts 

from  the 

Isis  site 

in  its 

soft, 

synthetic 
fish-netting. 


topography/  the  resting  place  for  hundreds  of  ancient  amphoras 
and  a  shipwreck  discovered  and  mapped  in  1988  by  co-ax  Argo. 
Marine  archaeologist  Anna  M.  McCann  named  the  4th-century  site 
"Isis"  after  the  goddess  that  ancient  sailors  prayed  to  for  a  life  after 
death.  McCann  directed  Jason's  mapping  of  artifacts  and  their 
retrieval  from  this  site,  750  meters  beneath  a  trade  route  used 
between  300  B.C.  and  A.D.  400. 

Never  before  had  a  deep-water  antiquarian  site  been 
approached  and  probed  by  a  robot's  mechanical  arm, 
and  the  DSL  team  felt  the  responsibility.  Previously, 
submerged  sites  as  deep  as  40  meters  had  been  excavated  by 
SCUBA  divers.  Jason  had  to  display  a  diver's  coordination  in 
safely  recovering  the  artifacts  while  disrupting  the  site  as  little  as 
possible. 

Before  the  expedition,  John  Salzig,  Hagen  Schempf,  and  Betsy 
Robinson  studied  illustrations  of  amphoras  from  the  Isis  era  and 
fabricated  a  retrieval  device.  It  could  accommodate  the  largest— 
40  centimeters  wide — North  African  jars  photographed  a  year 
earlier.  The  invention  was  named  "Knuckles,"  and  Jason's  wrist 
assembly  was  easily  modified  to  support  it.  Opening  and  closing 
like  a  large  bivalve,  hydraulically  driven  Knuckles  cradled  artifacts 
in  soft,  synthetic  fish-netting. 

Knuckles  worked  in  concert  with  an  elevator  that  we  named 
"Otis."  An  aluminum  and  glass-float  device,  Otis  would  descend 
to  the  bottom  near  the  shipwreck.  After  Jason  loaded  artifacts  into 
the  elevator's  four  netted  compartments,  Otis  was  acoustically 
instructed  to  rise  to  the  surface  by  releasing  an  anchor.  A  small 
boat  waited  at  the  surface  to  tow  Otis  to  the  Hercules.  In  this  way, 
we  gently  transported  more  than  two  dozen  ancient  jars  that  once 
contained  wine,  grains,  fish-sauce,  spices,  and  olive  oil. 

Household  utensils,  jewelry,  and  coins  were  too  small  for 
Knuckles,  so  Gleason  and  Smith  devised  a  dwarf  version  that 
consisted  of  a  frame-and-netting  assembly  bolted  onto  the  wrist's 
standard  pair  of  gripping  jaws.  I  tried  it  on  Jason's  final  dive  of  the 
expedition. 

A  few  terra  cotta  bits  had  been  charted  in  a  muddy  de- 
pression north  of  the  main  wreck-site.  The  elevator  was 
full  and  on  its  last  transit  back  to  the  surface.  The  only 
remaining  receptacle  for  artifacts  was  an  empty  basket  strapped  to 
the  side  of  Medea's  frame.  I  dipped  Jason's  tiny  new  hand  into  the 
depression  and  raised  a  billowing  cloud  of  mud.  Jason  rose, 
pivoted,  and  faced  Medea.  The  drop  had  to  be  timed  with  Medea's 
up-and-down  movements  or  we  would  lose  the  sample.  I  opened 
the  webbed  jaws,  watched  the  silty  cloud  tumble  into  the  basket, 
and  drove  Jason  away  toward  the  surface  for  recovery. 

Inside  the  basket  was  a  delicate  ceramic  oil-lamp  that  Aladdin 
might  have  recognized.  Studies  of  it  would  fix  the  age  of  the 


68 


Isis   Shipwreck1 


Tyrrhenian  Sea 


Marsili  Seamount 


s  outfitted 
n  S/VC/H//I/ 
designed 

contraption  culled 

"Knuckles"  to  lift 

artifact*  delicately 

off  the  seafloor. 


wreck.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  archaeologists  confirmed  the  worth 
of  all  our  efforts.  My  reward  was  the  /s/s  lamp.  At  the  very  last, 
after  weeks  of  technical  acrobatics,  our  Jason-town  team  was  adept 
enough  to  extract  that  one  fragile  prize  front  history.  ~"\ 


Martin  F.  Bowen  is  a  Research  Associate  and  senior  Remotely 
Operated  Vehicle  pilot  at  the  Deep  Submergence  Laboratory  of  the 
Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institution.  He  has  documented  six 
shipwrecks,  including  the  RMS  Titanic  and  the  battleship  Bismarck. 


69 


Ships  of  Tarshish 
to  the 

Land  of  Ophir 


Seafaring  in  Biblical  times 


by  Shelley  Wachsmann 


Others,  taking  ship  and  going  to  sea, 

were  plying  their  business  across  the  ocean; 

they  too  saw  what  the  Lord  could  do, 

what  marvels  on  the  deep! 

He  spoke  and  raised  a  gale, 

lashing  up  towering  waves. 

Flung  to  the  sky,  then  plunged  to  the  depths, 

they  lost  their  nerve  in  the  ordeal, 

staggering  and  reeling  like  drunkards 

with  all  their  seamanship  adrift. 

They  called  to  the  Lord  in  their  trouble 

and  he  rescued  them  from  their  sufferings, 

reducing  the  storm  to  a  whisper 

until  the  waves  grew  quiet, 

bringing  them,  glad  at  the  calm, 

safe  to  the  port  they  were  bound  for. 

Psalm  107:23-30 


Shelley  Wachsmann 
is  Inspector  of 
Underwater 
Antiquities  for  the 
Israel  Antiquities 
Authority. 


70 


rom  the  story  of  Noah's  Ark  to  the  various 
shipwrecks  of  Saint  Paul,  the  Bible  is  full  of 
references  to  seafaring.  The  sea — deep,  wide, 
and  unpredictable — is  a  powerful  symbol  for 


One  of  Jesus'  most 
well-known  miracles 

was  calming  Hie 

storm  on  the  Sen  of 

Galilee,  depicted  in 

tins  painting  by 

Rembrandt. 


///  tli is  mill 

painting  from  a 

I4tli-centnn/ 

B.C.  tomb  in 

TJiebes,  Late 

Bronze  Age 

incrclinnt  ships 

are  arriving  at 

an  Egyptian 

port. 


divinity  or  the  subconscious.  The  Mediterranean  was  also,  on  a 
more  physical  level,  the  ancient  Israelites'  front  door  through 
which  came  both  treasure  and  terror,  and  on  which  sailed  perhaps 
the  most  intrepid  mariners  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

Marine  archaeologists  of  the  Israel  Antiquities  Authority  are 
working  with  historians  to  piece  together  a  coherent  picture  of 
seafaring  on  the  ancient  Mediterranean.  Israel's  coast  abounds 
with  the  remains  of  ancient  ships  and  their  cargoes.  On  the  average, 
there  is  probably  a  shipwreck,  or  the  remains  of  a  wrecked  ship's 
cargo  every  100  meters  along  the  Israeli  Mediterranean  coast.  The 
study  of  these  remains — whether  they  are  a  Bronze  Age  ship's 
cargo,  an  inscribed  anchor,  or  the  hull  of  a  ship  that  sailed  during 
Biblical  times — considerably  enrich  our  understanding  of  ancient 
seafaring  and  Biblical  descriptions. 

Even  the  word  "Bible"  has  seafaring  connections.  In  the  third 
millennium  B.C.,  the  town  of  Byblos,  about  35  kilometers 
north  of  Beirut,  was  the  heart  of  the  trading  empire  of  the 
Canaanites,  whom  the  Greeks  later  called  "Phoenicians."  During 
its  centuries  of  power,  Byblos  called  itself  the  oldest  city  on  Earth. 

Records  of  the  seaborne  trade  in  copper  from  Cyprus,  gold 
from  Nubia,  and  cedar  from  the  mountains  of  Lebanon  were  kept 
on  papyrus  scrolls  by  the  scribes  of  Byblos.  So  much  papyrus  was 
used  and  traded  at  Byblos  that  the  name  of  the  city  eventually 
became  synonymous  with  the  records  of  these  transactions,  and 
was  translated  into  Greek  and  medieval  Latin  as  "biblos"  and 


72 


"biblia"  both  of  which  meant  "(the)  book." 

In  the  Late  Bronze  Age  (1550-1200  B.C.)  the  city-kingdom  of 
Ugarit,  on  the  coast  of  what  is  now  northern  Syria,  was  a  major 
maritime  power.  The  people  of  Ugarit,  although  they  did  not 
consider  themselves  Canaanite,  belonged  to  the  same  cultural  and 
religious  entity.  Clay  tablets  unearthed  at  Ugarit  indicate  that  the 
city-kingdom  then  had  a  fleet  of  more  than  150  ships.  The  tablets 
were  unearthed  between  1929  and  1966  by  the  archaeologist  Claude 
F.  A.  Schaeffer,  and  date  from  the  reign  of  King  Hammurapi,  the 
last  king  of  Ugarit.  Tablets  such  as  these  are  invaluable  sources  on 
Late  Bronze  Age  maritime  practices,  as  we  know  of  only  two 
coherent  shipwrecks  from  this  era — the  oldest  shipwrecks  ever 
found. 

According  to  the  tablets,  Ugarit's  ships  were  large  enough  to 
carry  up  to  450  tonnes  of  grain,  overthrowing  the  notion 
that  the  Late  Bronze  Age  people  of  the  northeastern 
Mediterranean  had  only  small  boats  of  the  type  that  could  be 
pulled  up  on  shore  each  night.  An  Egyptian  tomb  painting,  dating 
to  the  14th  century  B.C.  shows  these  craft  arriving  at  an  Egyptian 
port.  In  the  center  are  ships  that  have  docked,  and  to  the  right  is  a 
fascinating  depiction  of  the  hustle  and  bustle  of  a  port — the 
merchants  hawking  their  wares  in  stalls  as  the  ships  are  off-loaded 
by  porters. 

Eastern  Mediterranean  civilizations,  including  Ugarit,  the 
ancient  Israelite,  and  the  Canaanite,  were  besieged  and  terrorized 


A  tiin/,  but  detniled 

Hebrew  seal  shoius  n 

$en$oin$  inerclmiit 

s////>  from  the  eighth  or 

seventli  centun/  B.C. 


73 


during  the  13th  and  12th  centuries  B.C.  by  a  loose  coalition  of 
audacious  sea  raiders  known  to  the  Egyptians  as  the  "Sea  Peoples." 
Their  ships  had  bird-head  devices  at  stem  and  stern,  an  Aegean 
motif  that  supports  the  idea  that  their  ships  were  derived  from 
Aegean  prototypes.  One  of  the  tablets  is  a  copy  of  a  letter  sent  by 
King  Hamrnurapi  to  the  king  of  Alashia — which  is  usually 
identified  as  part  or  all  of  Cyprus.  It  describes  the  fury  of  the 
Sea  Peoples: 


Egyptian  plmmoli 

Rnmeses  III  cntslied  flic 

fierce  Sea  Peoples  in 

two  battles  thnt  lie 

commemorated  on  Iris 

mortuary  temple. 


My  father,  behold  the  ships  of  the  enemy  came;  my  cities  by  fire  he 
burned  and  an  evil  thing  in  the  country,  they  did  .  .  .  and  the  country 
is  abandoned  to  itself.  My  father,  this  matter  may  you  know.  Now 
the  seven  ships  of  the  enemy  that  came  here  and  damage  they  did  to 
us. 

(continued  on  page  76) 


74 


Rediscovering  Royal  Purple 
and  Biblical  Blue 


The  textile  dyeing  industry  was  one  of  the 
economic  mainstays  of  eastern  Mediterranean 
civilizations  between  the  seventh  centuries  B.C.  and 
A.D.  Centuries  after  the  loss  of  the  recipe  for  two  of 
these  dyes — the  Royal  (or  Tyrian)  Purple 
(Argaman  in  Hebrew)  and  the  Biblical  Blue 
(Tekhelet  in  Hebrew),  we  now  know  that  they  were 
produced  from  marine  snails. 

In  ancient  Rome,  togas  dyed  purple  were 
imperial  symbols;  and  in  ancient  lewry,  these 
colors  had  religious  and  social  significance.  The 
purple  dye  was  worth  10  to  20  times  its  weight  in  gold. 

The  first  step  toward  the  rediscover]/  of  the  purple  di/e  was 
taken  by  the  French  zoologist  Henri  Lacaze-Dutluers  in  1858 
during  an  expedition  to  the  island  of  Minorca.  He  noticed  a  poor 
fisherman  dyeing  his  shirt  with  crushed  rock-shell,  Thais 
haemastoma.  The  dye  gave  a  i/ellowisli  line  at  first,  that  changed 
in  the  sunliglit  to  light  purple  while  emitting  an  unpleasant  odor. 

The  ancients  knew  that  they  must  use  fresh  snails  for  their  dye 
industry.  In  addition,  since  the  amount  of  dye  stuff  that  could  be 
obtained  from  one  snail  is  minute,  they  needed  thousands  of  live 
snails  in  order  to  d\/e  a  small  area  of  yarn.  In  order  to  collect  such  a 
multitude,  they  probably  first  lured  flic  snails  with  wicker  baskets 
baited  witJi  smaslied  limpets  and  winkles.  After  the  snails  adhered 
to  the  basket  by  inserting  their  snouts  through  the  tini/  spaces 
between  the  wickers  they  would  stay  attaclied  even  when  the  baskets 
were  taken  out  of  the  water. 

Despite  some  earlier  controversy  surrounding  the  secret  of  the 
Biblical  Blue,  we  have  recently  discovered  that  the  blue  dye,  in 
addition  to  the  Royal  Purple,  can  be  produced  from  T.  trunculus. 

Careful,  indirect  heating,  removal  of  the  protein  residues, 
addition  of  fresh  glands  (with  active  enzi/mes),  and  proper  exposure 
to  air  and  light  can  yield  the  genuine  dyes.  Glands  of  female  rock 
murex  give  mainly  dibromoindigo,  or  Royal  Purple,  whereas  male 
glands  largely  produce  Biblical  Blue.  The  latter  compound  is 
identical  to  animal-derived  indigo. 

Dyed  purple  textile  from  a  1,700-year-old  archaeological 
site  in  the  Syrian  Desert  near  Palmyra  was  identified  as 
containing  the  molecule  6,6'  dibromoindigo.  Traces  of 
purple  dye  also  were  found  on  shards  of  a  ceramic  vessel 
from  Tel  Shiqmonn,  near  Haifa  and  were  identified  as 
this  genuine  Royal  Purple. 

—Ehud  Spanier 

The  Recanti  Center  for  Maritime  Studies 
University  of  Haifa,  Israel 


&f> 


A  detail  from 

Rameses  Ill's 

tomb  shows  one 

of  the  Sea 
Peoples'  ships 
capsized  in  the 
melee  of  buttle. 
The  manner  in 
wliicli  warriors 
are  intertwined 

in  tlie  ship 

informs  seJiolars 

about  the  ship's 

structure. 


The  Mycenaeans  (Bronze  Age  Greeks),  the  Hittites,  and  many 
of  the  Canaanite  city-kingdoms  all  fell  before  the  onslaught 
of  the  Sea  Peoples,  who  were  the  Biblical  equivalent  of  the 
Huns  and  the  Vikings  all  rolled  up  in  one.  In  fact,  the  tactics  of  the 
Sea  Peoples  were  not  unlike  the  later  Vikings.  They  would  arrive  at 
a  seaside  settlement,  ravage  it,  and  disappear  before  the  local 
military  could  come  to  grips  with  them.  However,  again  like  the 
later  Vikings,  when  they  met  an  organized  army  they  were  likely  to 
lose. 

Rameses  III,  the  last  great  pharaoh  of  Egypt,  managed  to  stop 
the  Sea  Peoples  in  two  battles  that  took  place  in  the  Nile  delta  about 
1 174  B.C.,  one  on  land  the  other  on  water.  Rameses  commemorated 
these  battles  graphically  on  his  mortuary  temple  at  Medinet  Habu, 
near  modern-day  Luxor.  The  depiction  of  the  ships  with  sails 
furled,  and  the  accompanying  text,  suggest  that  the  Egyptians 
mounted  a  surprise  attack: 

The  countries  which  came  from  their  isles  in  the  midst  of  the  sea, 
they  advanced  to  Egypt,  their  hearts  relying  upon  their  arms.  The  net 
was  made  ready  tor  them  to  ensnare  them. 

The  nautical  battle  scene  shows  that  the  ships  of  the  Sea 
Peoples  were  undecked,  and  traveled  under  both  sail  and  oar.  One 
of  the  Sea  Peoples'  ships  is  shown  below,  capsized  in  the  melee  of 
battle.  By  studying  the  manner  in  which  the  bodies  of  the  warriors 
are  intertwined  in  the  ship,  it  is  possible  to  understand  the 
structure  of  the  ships  themselves.  In  particular,  there  is  a  figure 
sitting  on  the  center  of  the  upturned  ship.  His  left  leg  disappears 
behind  the  hull  but  reappears  in  an  open  space  between  the  hull 
and  a  raised  screen.  To  his  left,  two  other  bodies  are  placed  in 


76 


positions  that  support  the  conclusion  that  an  open  area,  which  can 
only  be  a  rowers'  gallery,  existed  on  these  ships. 

Another  fascinating  text  found  at  Ugarit — a  letter  from  the 
Hittite  king  to  the  chief  ministers  of  the  Ugaritic  king — relates  to 
how  a  group  of  Sikila,  one  of  the  Sea  Peoples  who  later  settled  in 
the  area  of  Dor  (near  modern-day  Zichron  Yaakov  in  Israel),  were 
captured  by  a  Ugarit  man  named  Lunadushu.  In  the  text,  the 
Hittite  king  orders  the  man  responsible  for 
the  capture  of  "the  Sikila  who  on  ships 
live,"  to  be  brought  to  him. 

During  the  height  of  ancient  Israel's 
power,  under  King  Solomon  in  the  10th 
century  B.C.,  the  king  entered  into  a  joint 
venture  with  Hiram,  the  Phoenician  king  of 
Tyre,  for  shipborne  trade  to  the  mysterious 
land  of  Ophir. 

King  Solomon  equipped  a  fleet  at  Ezion- 
Geber,  which  is  near  Elath  on  the  shores  of 
the  Red  Sea,  in  the  land  of  Edom.  For  this 
fleet  Hiram  sent  men  of  his,  sailors  who 
knew  the  sea,  to  serve  with  Solomon's  men. 
They  went  to  Ophir  and  from  there  brought 
back  tour  hundred  and  twenty  talents  of 
gold,  which  they  delivered  to  King 
Solomon. 

I  Kings  9:26-28 

No  one  yet  can  say  where  Ophir  was 

located:  some  suggest  along  the  Arabian  or  African  shores  of  the 
Red  Sea;  others  think  it  was  further  south,  along  the  Somalian  or 
Kenyan  coast  of  the  Indian  Ocean;  still  others  hazard  a  guess  that  it 
mav  have  been  a  city  on  the  west  coast  of  India.  But  while  the  site 

J  J 

of  Ophir  remains  unknown,  its  reality  is  indicated  by  an  ostracon, 
or  inscribed  pottery  sherd,  from  Tel  Qasile,  near  Tel  Aviv.  The 
ostracon  carries  the  words:  "gold  of  Ophir  to  Beth  Horon  30 
shekels." 

While  Hiram's  daring  Phoenician  seafarers  carried  out 
impressive  feats  of  navigation,  their  descendants  did  them  proud. 
In  addition  to  the  legends  claiming  they  entered  the  Atlantic  by 
means  of  the  cold,  salty,  undercurrent  at  Gibraltar  (see  page  28), 
later  Phoenician  sailors  are  credited  with  the  first  recorded 
circumnavigation  of  Africa.  The  fifth-century  B.C.  Greek  historian 
Herodotus  tells  us  that  about  200  years  before  his  time,  Phoenician 
mariners  under  the  orders  of  the  Egyptian  Pharaoh  Necho  II,  sailed 
down  the  Red  Sea  and  into  the  Indian  Ocean,  only  to  return 
through  the  "Pillars  of  Hercules"  after  three  years.  During  their 
voyage,  they  stopped  each  autumn  to  plant  and  reap  crops,  and  so 
keep  themselves  supplied. 

Interestingly,  even  as  Herodotus  tells  this  story,  he  refuses  to 


li 

1 

1 

1 

\\ 

^~~1 

Wliilc  the  locution 
of  Ophir  is  still  a 

nn/sten/,  the 
inscription  on  this 
potsherd  proves  it 
did  exist:  "gold  of 

Ophir  to  Beth 
Horon  30  shekels." 


77 


Is  it 
possible 
that  the 
Tarshish 
ships  were 
regularly 
circum- 
navigating 
Africa 
3,000 
y ears  ago? 


accept  one  statement  made  by  the  sea  rovers:  they  claimed  that 
while  they  were  traveling  around  the  southern  half  of  Africa,  or 
"Libya"  as  they  called  it,  the  sun  had  been  on  their  right,  or  to  the 
north.  However,  it  is  precisely  this  statement  that  proves  the 
authenticity  of  the  story.  For  while  voyaging  in  a  generally 
westward  course  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  the  Phoenicians 
would  have  indeed  had  the  sun  on  their  right;  and  after  rounding 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  they  would  have  been  heading  north  and 
the  sun  would  be  rising  on  their  right. 

The  Bible  refers  twice  to  a  regular  trade  carried  out  by  Solomon 
in  partnership  with  Hiram  of  Tyre.  A  fleet  of  "ships  of  Tarshish" 
would  bring  gold,  silver,  ivory,  apes,  and  peacocks  once  every 
three  years.  Now  a  trip  to  Tarshish,  located  in  the  Mediterranean, 
would  not  normally  have  taken  three  years  to  complete  if  the  ships 
were  sailing  to  and  from  a  Mediterranean  Levantine  port. 
However,  these  Biblical  passages,  combined  with  Herodotus' 
comments,  raises  a  fascinating  possibility.  Is  it  possible  that  the 
Tarshish  ships  of  Solomon  and  Hiram  were  regularly 
circumnavigating  Africa  3,000  years  ago? 

This  hypothesis  may  be  supported  by  considering  one 
description  of  the  attempt  made  by  the  Hebrew  kings  Jehoshaphat 
and  Ahaziah  to  later  renew  this  trade.  They  built: 

.  .  .  ships  to  go  to  Tarshish,  and  they  built  the  ships  in  Ezion  Geber 
[near  the  site  of  modern-day  Eilat  on  the  Red  Sea].  And  the  ships  were 
wrecked  and  were  not  able  to  go  to  Tarshish. 

2  Chronicles  20:35-37. 

Tarshish  was  apparently  the  name  for  Tartessos  in  Spain,  near 
modern-clay  Cadiz;  so  the  only  way  to  reach  Tarshish  from  Ezion 
Geber  would  be  to  circumnavigate  Africa.  However,  the  parallel 
description  of  this  event  in  1  Kings  22:47  has  Jehoshaphat  building 
"ships  of  Tarshish  to  go  to  Ophir  for  gold,"  which  significantly 
changes  the  purpose  of  the  trip.  But  why  are  the  vessels  called 
"Tarshish  ships?" 

The  Bible  often  speaks  of  seagoing  Tarshish  ships  or  of  ships 
that  are  going  to  Tarshish.  While  several  interpretations  have  been 
advanced  by  scholars,  the  most  likely  one  is  this:  normally,  a 
specific  class  of  craft  receives  a  geographical  name  because  it  was 
used  on  a  specific  route.  This  concept  is  paralleled  by  the  "East 
Indiamen"  or  "Boston  packets"  of  the  recent  past.  It  seems  likely, 
therefore,  that  Tarshish  ships  were  the  type  of  craft  normally  used 
on  the  run  to  Tarshish. 

In  general,  then,  Tarshish  ships  were  seagoing  ships,  and  when 
the  prophet  Jonah  fled  to  Tarshish — the  voyage  on  which  he  was 
thrown  into  the  sea — he  was  figuratively  running  away  to  the  ends 
of  the  Earth. 

When  the  Phoenicians  organized  trips  to  Ophir  it  was  only 
natural  to  use  Tarshish  ships,  the  class  of  merchant  ship  capable  of 


78 


^£5*, 
•• 


sB35          ^ 

Pfr;^*i 


i 


OffUlu  Bnriin, 

Turkey,  the 
oldest  complete 
shipwreck  ever 

foiind(14th 
century  B.C.)  lias 

taught 

archaeologists 

about  undent 

trade  and 

seafaring. 


Wlien  Jonah 

fled  to 
Tarshish,  he 
was  figur- 
atively 
running 
away  to  the 
ends  of  the 
Earth. 


long  sea  voyages.  So  this  may  have  been  the  case  with  the  Tarshish 
ships  of  Solomon  and  Hiram,  but  there  is  as  yet  no  archaeological 
evidence  for  it.  Until  such  evidence  is  forthcoming,  this  idea  must 
remain  no  more  than  a  hypothesis  attractive  to  the  author. 

The  most  detailed  description  of  seafaring  in  the  Bible  is  given 
us  by  the  sixth-century  B.C.  prophet  Ezekiel.  In  lamenting  the  fall  of 
Tyre,  he  compares  that  great  Phoenician  city  to  the  sinking  of  a 
great  seagoing  merchant  ship.  In  raising  his  dirge,  Ezekiel  gives 
wonderful  details  of  the  ships'  construction  and  rigging,  and  the 
merchandise  bartered  bv  the  Phoenician  mariners. 

J 

Tyre,  you  used  to  say:  I  am  a  ship 

perfect  in  beauty. 

Your  frontiers  stretched  far  out  to  sea; 

those  who  built  you  made  you 

perfect  in  your  beauty. 

Cyprus  from  Senir  they  used 

for  all  your  planking. 

They  took  a  cedar  from  Lebanon 

to  make  you  a  mast. 

From  the  tallest  oaks  of  Bashan 

they  made  your  oars. 

They  built  you  a  deck  of  cedar  inlaid  with  ivory 

from  the  Kittim  isles. 

Embroidered  linen  of  Egypt  was  used  for  your  sail 

and  your  flag. 

Purple  and  scarlet  from  the  Elishah  islands 

formed  your  deck  tent. 

j 

Men  from  Sidon  and  from  Arvad 

were  your  oarsmen. 

Your  sages,  Tyre,  were  aboard 

serving  as  sailors. 

The  elders  and  craftsmen  of  Gebal  were  there 

to  calk  your  seams. 

Ezekiel  27:3-9. 

A  Hebrew  seal  bearing  the  depiction  of  a  ship  elating  to  the 
eighth  or  seventh  centuries  B.C.  may  indicate  what  these  ships 
looked  like  (see  seal,  page  73).  The  seal  belonged  to  a  certain 
"Oniyahu  Ben  Merab."  Despite  the  seals'  minute  size — the  image 
of  the  ship  is  only  eight  millimeters  long — the  ship  is  excellently 
detailed.  This  type  of  ship  is  also  depicted  in  numerous  other  seals, 
graffiti,  and  pottery  of  antiquity. 

During  his  ministry,  Jesus  lived  and  worked  primarily  in  the 
area  around  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  As  some  of  his  Apostles 
were  fishermen,  it  is  not  surprising  that  many  of  the 
Gospel  stories  are  connected  with  boats  and  seafaring  on  this  small 
(21  by  12  kilometers)  freshwater  lake.  The  stories  often  refer  to 
Jesus  crossing  by  boat  from  one  side  of  the  lake  to  the  other  and  his 
practice  of  sometimes  retreating  from  large  crowds  by  taking  a  boat 
to  a  "lonely  place."  Two  of  his  most  well-known  miracles  are  the 


80 


calming  of  the  storm  on  the 
Sea  of  Galilee  and  his 
walking  on  its  waters. 

Because  of  this,  the 
discovery  in  1986  of  an 
ancient  workboat  buried  in 
the  seabed  of  the  lake  is  of 
particular  interest.  The  boat 
was  found  by  two  brothers, 
Yuval  and  Moshe  Lufan, 
from  Kibbutz  Ginosar,  during 
a  period  of  drought  when  the 
lake  had  receded  revealing 
vast  expanses  of  dry  seabed. 
Almost  immediately,  the 
discovery  of  "a  boat  from 
the  time  of  Jesus"  was 
transformed  in  the  popular 
imagination  into  the 
discovery  of  "the  boat 
of  Jesus/ 

Rumors  of  a  "treasure 
wreck"  had  scavengers 
scurrying  to  salvage  what 
they  could  of  it.  To  prevent 
damage  to  the  boat,  a  rescue 
excavation  was  begun  at  once 
that  continued  'round  the 
clock  for  11  days. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the 
excavation  the  boat  was 

successfully  moved  in  one  piece  to  a  specially  built  conservation  The  Kinneret  boat, 

pool  where  it  is  currently  undergoing  conservation  treatment.  imagined  by  some  as 

Following  several  years  of  research  by  a  variety  of  experts  and  ^ie  ^°11^  of  Jesus,  is 
scholars,  the  "Kinneret"  boat  (Kinneret  is' the  Hebrew  name  for  the  hci"X  conserved  in  a 
Sea  of  Galilee)  has  allowed  us  an  intimate  look  at  a  time  and  place  special  pc 

that  literally  changed  world  history.  The  boat  elates  to  between 
100  B.C.  and  A.D.  70.  It  represents  the  largest  class  of  boat  commonly 
used  on  the  lake  during  antiquity  and  the  class  of  boat  used  by 
Jesus  and  his  apostles  in  the  Gospel  stories. 

Virtually  all  the  historical  and  iconographical  sources 
concerning  seafaring  on  the  Kinneret  in  the  first  century  A.D.  refer 
to  a  large  class  of  boat  that  normally  had  a  crew  of  5 — the  same 
number  of  crew  postulated  for  the  Kinneret  Boat — and  could 
accommodate  as  many  as  15  men,  inclusive  of  crew.  Relatively 
expensive,  boats  of  this  size  were  normally  owned  and  operated  by 
a  family.  When  family  members  were  insufficient  to  crew  the  boat, 
additional  workers  were  hired.  The  first  four  Apostles  comprised 


81 


two  such  family  crews;  Peter  and  Andrew  were  brothers,  as  were 
James  and  John. 

Boats  of  this  class  were  primarily  used  for  fishing,  adapted 
specifically  for  use  with  the  seine  net — the  type  described  by  Jesus 
in  his  "Parable  of  the  Net"  (Matthew  13:47-50).  It  was  apparently 
this  factor  that  defined  the  size  of  the  class;  the  boats  had  to  be 
large  enough  to  employ  this  net  and  to  transport  the  large  crew 
required  to  work  the  net.  The  boats  had  large  stern  decks  on  which 
the  net  was  carried  and  from  which  it  was  spread.  To  judge  from 
recent  ethnological  parallels  on  the  Kinneret,  they  probably  had  a 
smaller  deck  at  the  bow,  but  were  open  amidship. 

The  boats  also  were  used  to  transport  men  and  supplies.  In 
times  of  war,  they  could  be  pressed  into  service  for  battle, 
mainly  as  rapid  transports;  with  their  shallow  draft  they 
were  ideally  suited  for  swift  commando  attacks  on  the  shelving 
coasts  that  predominate  in  the  Kinneret.  They  were  apparently  not 
unlike  boats  used  for  coastal  piracy  in  the  Mediterranean  at  that 
time.  The  Kinneret  boat  suggests  that  boats  of  this  size  moved 
under  both  square  sail  and  oars. 

Continued  research  on  ancient  Mediterranean  shipwrecks, 
together  with  textual  and  iconographic  study,  will  continue  to 
enrich  our  knowledge  of  ancient  seafaring  techniques.  Most 
recently,  the  Texas-based  Institute  of  Nautical  Archaeology's 
excavation  of  the  Late  Bronze  Age  wreck  at  Ulu  Burun  in  Turkey 
has  already  contributed  immeasurably  to  our  understanding  of 
seafaring  and  trade.  The  University  of  Haifa's  new  excavation  of  a 
fifth-century  B.C.  shipwreck  off  the  Israeli  coast  near  Maagan 
Michael  also  will  deliver  a  cargo  of  knowledge. 


Picture  Credits 

p.  I:  WHOI;  /'.  2:  WHOI  Archives  (top  and  middle);  Ulrich  K.  Tutsch  (bottom);  p.  3:  Kevin  Fleming  (top); 
Joseph  H.  Bailey/©  National  Geographic  Society  (middle);  Lorraine  Schultz  (bottom);  p.  4:  Kevin  Fleming 
(bottom);  pp.  4  &  5:  Kevin  Fleming;  p.  6:  The  Bettmann  Archive  (top);  Dennis  Mansell  (bottom);  p.  7: 
Jonathan  Blair/Woodfin  Camp  (top);  Aaron  Levin  (bottom);  pp.  8  &  9:  EROS  Data  Center,  U.S.  Geological 
Survey;  p-  10:  Greenpeace /Dorreboom;  p.  11:  Donald  A.  Frey/Institute  of  Nautical  Archaeology;  p.  12: 
Jonathan  Blair/Woodfin  Camp;  p.  13:  Kevin  Fleming;  /;/'.  14  &  15:  E.  Paul  Oberlander;  p.  16:  Scripps 
Institution  of  Oceanography;  p.  17:  after  M.B.  Cita  and  W.B.F.  Ryan;  p.  20:  National  Science  Foundation;  p. 
21:  after  A.G.  Smith  and  N.H.  Woodcock;  p.  27:  WHOI  Archives;  p.  28:  E.  Paul  Oberlander;  p.  29:  Jean  Loup 
Charmet  (painter  unknown);  pp.  32  &  33:  E.  Paul  Oberlander;  p.  35:  NASA;  pp.  38  &  39:  Ulrich  K.  Tutsch;  p. 
39:  Greenpeace/ Midgley  (left);  Greenpeace/Gremo  (right);  p.  41:  Greenpeace/Gremo;  p.  43:  Millot;  p.  44: 
Gaston  Fredj;  p.  45:  Ferrante  Imperato;  /'  47:  United  Nations  Environment  Programme;  pp.  50  &  51:  courtesy 
NASA;  p.  53:  Adrianna  lanora;  pp.  54  6-  55:  E.  Paul  Oberlander;  p.  56:  Jim  Pickerell/TSW;  p.  61:  Martin  F. 
Bowen/©  The  Quest  Group;  p.  62:  E.  Paul  Oberlander,  courtesy  Anna  M.  McCann;  p.  63:  Tom  Kleindinst  & 
John  Porteous,  courtesy  McCann;  p.  65:  E.  Paul  Oberlander,  courtesy  McCann;  p.  69:  Martin  F.  Bowen/© 
The  Quest  Group;  E.  Paul  Oberlander  (map);  p.  71:  courtesy  Isabella  Stewart  Gardner  Museum,  Boston;  pp. 
72  &  73:  after  N.G.  Davies  and  R.O.  Faulkner;  p.  73:  N.  Avigad;  p.  74:  B.  Brandle;  p.  75:  Ehud  Spanier;  p.  76: 
after  H.H.  Nelson;  p.  77:  after  B.  Maisler;  p.  79:  Donald  A.  Frey/Institute  of  Nautical  Archaeology;  p.  81: 
Danny  Syon;  p.  S3:  Catherine  Kamow/Woodfin  Camp  (left);  Ulrich  K.  Tutsch  (top  right);  Brian  Leatart 
(bottom). 


82 


Child's  Play: 
Bouillabaisse 


by  Sara  L.  Ellis 


here's  always  such 
a  lovely  aroma  of 
garlic  and  olive  oil. 
You  can  just  smell 
them  everywhere  down  there/ 
says  Julia  Child,  reminiscing 
about  culinary  delights 
of  the  French  Mediterranean. 
"And  of  course,  lots  of  fish." 


Sara  L.  Ellis 
is  Editorial 
Assistant  at 
Oceanus. 


Child, 
worn/ ing 

about 
Mediter- 
ranean pollu- 
tion, fights  for 
clean  and  fresh 
seafood  in 
the  United 
States. 


Child  has  brought  French  cooking  into  the  homes  of  millions  of 
North  Americans  since  the  1960s.  After  four  PBS  television  series, 
beginning  with  The  French  Chef,  as  well  as  numerous  cookbooks 
and  how-to  videos,  she  just  finished  her  beautifully  illustrated 
magnum  opus,  The  Wm/  to  Cook,  last  fall  at  the  age  of  77. 

Julia  is  fond  of  the  distinctive  food  and  informal  atmosphere  in 
the  south  of  France.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  her  thoughts 
on  this  regional  cuisine,  over  lunch  at  her  home  in  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts. 

A  great  fan  of  seafood,  Child  worries  about  the  effects  of  ocean 
pollution  on  Mediterranean  fish:  "I  don't  know  how  polluted  the 
Mediterranean  has  gotten.  That's  one  of  the  big  problems  there — as 
well  as  here.  I  know  there  used  to  be  lots  of  wonderful,  colorful, 
little  fishes  around  that  you  made  your  fish  soup  out  of,  but  how 
much  of  that  is  left?" 

These  are  legitimate  concerns.  Compared  with  other  seas  and 
oceans,  the  Mediterranean  is  infertile.  The  scarcity  of  fish  and  the 
related  high  prices  encourage  overfishing.  The  southern  coast  of 
Europe  has  been  hit  the  hardest,  with  stocks  of  coastal  fish  like 
hake,  sole,  and  red  mullet  seriously  depleted. 

Pollution  has  lengthened  the  odds  on  recovery.  Raw  sewage, 
oil  tanker  waste,  and  industrial  sludge  were  all  dumped  freely  into 
the  Mediterranean.  In  the  1970s,  their  effects  began  to  be  noticed  in 
a  big  way — swimmers  were  coming  clown  with  nasty  diseases,  and 
tar  balls  were  everywhere. 

Fortunately,  environmental  degradation  has  slowed  down,  and 
in  some  cases  even  reversed.  Thanks  go  mainly  to  the  Mecl  Plan 
(see  article,  page  38),  an  international  agreement  to  monitor  and  cut 
back  sources  of  pollution.  Whether  this  will  give  fish  stocks  a 
second  chance  remains  to  be  seen. 

Child  has  been  a  champion  for  clean  seafood  in  the  United 
States.  Last  fall  she  criticized  the  shellfish  industry  for  its 
inattention  to  the  increasing  bacterial  contamination  in  oysters, 
clams,  and  mussels.  She  stopped  eating  shellfish  for  a  while,  even 
though  oysters  are  one  of  her  favorite  foods. 

As  she  pleads  in  The  Win/  to  Cook,  "Serious  and  continual 
bacteriological  inspection  seems.  .  .  to  be  our  only 
safeguard.  It  is  up  to  us  as  the  consumers  and  voters  to 
insist  that  all  regulations  and  inspections  be  enforced — and  we 
have  to  be  willing  to  pay  for  them."  She  has  started  to  eat  shellfish 
again,  but  only  when  it  comes  from  a  thoroughly  reliable  source. 

Julia  also  stresses  that  the  key  to  any  good  seafood  dish  is 
freshness.  I  asked  her  how  she  thought  freshness  compared 
between  fish  markets  in  southern  France  and  Boston.  "The  fish 
market  in  Cannes  was  wonderful — one  of  those  big  covered  sheds, 
with  people  screaming  and  yelling,  and  selling.  But  you  have  to 
watch  out  because  toward  the  end  of  the  day  they  try  to  sell  their 
old  stuff  if  you're  not  wary.  .  .  .  Still,  I  think  that  generally  fish  is 


S4 


fresher  over  there.  Here  in  Boston,  a  lot  of  boats  go  way  out  to  the 
Grand  Banks  and  you  just  don't  know  how  long  the  fish  has  been 
sitting  in  the  bottom  of  the  hold." 

In  her  book  From  Julia  Child's  Kitchen,  she  gives  a  few  pointers: 
"Fresh  whole  fish  have  bright  bulging  eyes,  bright  red  gills,  and 
moist  glossy  skin.  Fresh  fillets  and  steaks  have  a  glossy  look  too: 
the  meat  holds  closely  together  and  is  springy  to  the  touch." 
Ultimately  though,  she  contends  that  your  nose  is  your  best  judge. 
"You  can  certainly  tell  a  fresh  fish  by  smelling  it  can't  you?" 

Julia  has  had  plenty  of  experience  sampling  Mediterranean 
cuisine.  Her  husband  Paul  (whom  she  met  in  Ceylon  while 
doing  "lowly"  file  work  for  the  Office  of  Strategic  Services 
during  World  War  II)  entered  the  diplomatic  service  after  the  war. 
They  were  sent  to  Paris  in  1948,  and  from  there  to  Marseille. 
Subsequently  they  built  a  house  slightly  inland  of  Cannes  and  Nice, 
on  the  property  of  Julia's  colleague  Simone  Beck  (a  coauthor  of 
Mastering  the  Art  of  French  Cooking).  They  lived  there  on  and  off 
over  the  years. 

"In  Marseille,  we  were  right  on  the  Old  Port,  next  to  the 
wholesale  fish  market  called  the  Criee  aux  Poissons,  or  fish  auction. 
It  was  a  very  jolly  place — you  know,  lots  of  noise  and  shouting  and 
so  forth.  There  were  these  wonderful  fishwives  who  sounded 
terribly  fierce,  all  screaming  and  yelling  and  having  fake  fights 
with  each  other."  On  a  more  recent  television  assignment  in 
France,  Julia  was  pleasantly  surprised  to  see  that  the  fish  markets 
have  remained  relatively  unchanged.  "You  might  think  these 
unique  wonderful  old  gals  would  all  die  off,  but  there  always 
seems  to  be  somebody  who  comes  in  to  replace  them.  I  think  they 
just  enjoy  it  very  much." 

Undoubtedly,  the  most  famous  seafood  dish  from  the  French 
Med  is  bouillabaisse,  a  hearty  stew  flavored  with  tomatoes,  garlic, 
olive  oil,  onions,  saffron,  herbs,  and  fish.  Although  bouillabaisse  is 
popular  on  restaurant  menus,  it  is  quite  an  elaborate  production, 
with  the  whole  fish  served  on  a  platter,  and  the  soup  in  a  tureen. 
A  less  complicated  version,  soupe  de  poisson,  has  the  same  flavorful 
base  but  the  fish  is  pureed  and  the  soup  is  served  with  grated 
cheese,  toasted  croutons,  and  a  red  garlic  sauce  called  rouille. 

There  are  many  variations  on  the  bouillabaisse  theme, 
particularly  in  countries  where  you  can't  get  the  typical  fish 
such  as  rockfish,  sea  eels,  gurnards,  red  mullets,  and 
wrasses.  Dogmatic  French  experts  don't  believe  in  substitutions. 
Julia's  attitude  is  that  anything  goes,  as  long  as  you  use  the 
traditional  flavoring  and  have  a  good  strong  base  made  from  fresh, 
non-oily  fish. 

Last  October  she  was  one  of  the  judges  of  an  unusual 
bouillabaisse  contest  in  Santa  Barbara,  California.  "About  20 
restaurants  entered,  and  each  chef  made  his  or  her  own  version. 
They  were  all  very  interesting — one  was  flavored  with  fennel, 


Those 

wonderful 

old  French 

fishwives, 

terribly  fierce 

while 

screaming 

and  yelling 

in  their  fake 

fights,  are  not 

a  dying 

breed. 


85 


The  Italian 

connection 

in  French 

food  extends 

to  pizza 

with 

anchovies 

and  black 

olives. 


another  had  Mexican  seasonings.  It  was  rather  difficult  for  me  as  a 
judge,  since  I  was  used  to  regular  bouillabaisse  and  these  were  so 
different,  but  it  was  certainly  a  lot  of  fun.  With  such  nontraditional 
flavors  perhaps  'Santa  Barbara  fish  stew'  or  some  such  name  might 
have  been  more  appropriate." 

The  mainstay  of  most  Mediterranean  cuisines  is  olives,  which 
thrive  in  the  hot,  dry  climate.  They  set  French 
Mediterranean  cooking  apart  from  the  classic  French  style. 
"In  the  South  of  France,  they  use  olive  oil  instead  of  butter.  Some 
people  think  it's  healthier  since  there's  no  cholesterol  in  olive  oil. 
And  they  don't  use  all  that  cream"  (see  box,  opposite).  Other 
typical  ingredients  are  capers,  anchovies,  saffron,  and  many  herbs 
and  spices. 

Markets  abound  with  different  preparations  of  both  black  and 
green  olives.  One  kind  that  Julia  remembers  well  is  olives  cassees 
which  are  whole,  green  olives,  cracked  and  floating  in  an  onion- 
garlic-herb  marinade.  But  she  has  a  special  fondness  for  the  small 
black  olives — a  craving  she  can  satisfy  on  both  coasts  of  the  United 
States.  They  grow  near  her  third  home  in  Santa  Barbara,  and  a 
local  company  is  processing  them  and  making  olive  oil.  Back  in 
Cambridge,  it's  only  a  quick  trip  to  the  North  End  of  Boston,  a 
predominantly  Italian  part  of  town.  There  the  markets  carry  plenty 
of  Mediterranean  olives  and  capers. 

It's  no  coincidence  that  Italian  markets  carry  some  of  the 
ingredients  used  in  the  French  Med.  As  Julia  pointed  out  to  me, 
there  are  many  similarities  between  the  two  cuisines,  especially 
near  the  border: 

"In  that  part  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  French  use  lots  of  pasta. 
But  the  French  cuisine  is  always  a  little  more  elaborate.  When  we 
went  over  to  Italy  to  teach  a  one-week  cooking  course  in  Venice  in 
the  1960s,  they  didn't  have  much  of  the  equipment  that  they  had  in 
France.  They  don't  make  many  of  the  classic  dishes,  so  we  couldn't 
find  a  lot  of  utensils  that  we  wanted.  The  Italian  cuisine  is  more 
simple.  Quite  frankly  I  think  the  French  cuisine  more  fun — but 
you'd  anger  the  Italians  if  you  said  that!" 

In  the  south  of  France  they  also  make  a  great  deal  of  pizza.  • 
They  have  a  wonderful  one  called  pissnlndiere,  which  is  an 
onion  tart  with  anchovies  and  black  olives.  As  I  was  secretly 
salivating  over  the  lunch  that  Julia  was  preparing  for  me  before  my 
very  eyes — smoked  salmon  from  the  Pacific  Northwest,  cheese, 
homemade  bread,  and  salad  with  a  garlicky  olive  oil  vinaigrette- 
she  lovingly  described  this  French  tart: 

"You  cook  the  sliced  onions  in  olive  oil  with  herbs  and  garlic 
until  very  tender.  You  have  your  dough  all  rolled  out,  and  then 
you  spread  it  with  a  little  anchovy  paste  and  olive  oil.  Then  you 
put  the  onions  on  top  and  decorate  it  with  black  olives  and 
anchovy  filets.  That's  a  really  great  combination!" 

Another  famous  Mediterranean  dish  that  uses  olives  is  Snhidc 

(continued  on  page  88) 


86 


. . .  and  it's  good  for  you,  too! 


There  is  an  inverse  relationship  between  fish  consumption 
and  mortality  from  cardiovascular  disease.  Diets  rich  in  fish, 
unlike  those  rich  in  meat,  appear  to  be  related  to  better 
cardiovascular  health.  This  is  presumably  due  to  the  type  of 
oil  found  in  some  fish. 

The  "Mediterranean  diet"  meets  many  of  the  criteria 
of  a  prudent  and  healthy  diet,  for  reasons  of  climate,  soil, 
geography,  and  culture,  the  diet  has  a  relatively  low 
percentage  of  calories  from  saturated  and  polyunsaturated 
fats,  and  a  high  content  mono-imsaturated  fats — mostly  from 
olive  oil — and  fiber.  Mono-unsaturated  fats  have  been 
considered  to  have  a  neutral  effect  on  blood  lipids,  which  are 
linked  to  cardiovascular  disease.  Mediterranean  populations 
experience  lower  incidence  of  heart  disease,  strokes,  obesity, 
diabetes,  and  cancer  than  do  people  from  other  developed  parts 
of  the  world. 

The  type  and  amount  of  fat  in  the  Mediterranean  diet 
have  the  effect  of  lowering  blood  cholesterol.  This  is  a 
particular  concern  given  the  relationship  between  elevated 
blood  cholesterol  and  the  incidence  of  death  from  cardio- 
vascular disease.  The  use  of  margarine  is  unheard  of,  and  only 
small  amounts  of  butter  enter  the  diet. 

The  Mediterranean  diet  contains  about  two-thirds  the  fat 
of  the  typical  U.S.  diet.  Epidemilogic  data  suggest  an  inverse 
relationship  between  total  fat  intake  and  death  from  cancer. 
Their  foods  are  often  flavored  with  garlic,  which  lowers  blood 
cholesterol. 

The  Mediterranean  diet  is  lugli  in  fruits,  vegetables,  and 
cereals.  Eating  foods  high  in  fiber  decreases  the  symptoms  of 
chronic  constipation  and  colon  diseases.  It  also  has  been 
suggested  that  diets  low  in  fiber  may  increase  the  risk  of  colon 
cancer.  Eating  plenty  of  fruits  and  vegetables  ensures  not 
only  sufficient  amounts  of  fiber  but  also  of  vitamins  A,  C,  and 
E.  These  nutrients  are  thought  to  inhibit  and  protect  against 
cancer,  which  may  help  to  explain  the  health-promoting 
qualities  associated  with  the  Mediterranean  way  of  eating. 

No  diet  can  guarantee  good  health.  Health  also  depends 
on  exercise,  lifestyle,  heredity,  and  environment.  But  good 
eating  practices,  such  as  those  of  the  Mediterranean  diet,  based 
on  moderation  and  variety,  can  definitely  improve  the  odds 
against  certain  diseases.  Besides,  the  Mediterranean  diet  lends 
to  an  attractive,  palatable,  and  inexpensive  way  of  eating! 

— Elizabeth  J.  Johnson 

Human  Nutrition  Research  Center 

Tufts  University,  Boston,  Massachusetts 


87 


Shopping  for 
food  every 
day  in  the 

French 

tradition 

makes  all  the 

difference  in 

flavor  and 

freshness. 


Niqoise,  which  is  made  with  green  beans,  sliced  potatoes,  tomatoes, 
black  olives,  hard-boiled  eggs,  tuna,  and  anchovies,  surrounded  by 
leaves  of  green  lettuce.  As  with  bouillabaisse,  epicureans  debate 
the  proper  ingredients  of  this  dish.  Believe  it  or  not,  in  this  case  the 
controversial  point  is  potatoes.  "Some  say  it  should  never  have 
potatoes,"  explains  Child,  "but  I  happen  to  like  potatoes,  so  I 
belong  to  the  'potato  school.'  And  besides,  Escoffier  [one  of  the 
most  famous  French  chefs]  has  potatoes  in  his  and  he  came  from 
Nice.  That's  good  enough  for  me!" 

I   asked  Julia  whether  she  had  noticed  any  changing  trends  in 
French  Mediterranean  food  over  the  last  few  decades.  She 
thought  that  the  cuisine  itself  has  stayed  pretty  much  the  same, 
but  in  some  cases  the  quality  of  the  produce  has  deteriorated. 
"When  I  first  went  over  there,  life  was  simpler  at  that  point.  They 
didn't  have  electric  beaters  or  food  processors  or  anything  like 
that — not  even  refrigerators.  So  everyone  had  to  shop  for  food  each 
day.  Then,  of  course,  you  only  had  things  that  were  in  season, 
which  makes  all  the  difference  in  freshness  and  flavor. 

"Now  the  area  is  much  more  modernized.  There's  more  traffic 
and  loads  of  tourists,  but  it  still  remains  very  French  in  atmosphere, 
thank  heaven.  These  days  there  are  lots  of  supermarkets.  Of 
course  this  makes  for  more  variety;  however,  very  often  I  can  be 
there  in  one  of  those  markets  and  find  myself  saying  I'd  just  as  soon 
be  back  in  Cambridge  at  the  Star  Market  where  things  are  a  little 
fresher. 

"In  the  French  supermarkets  often  the  produce  isn't  as  fresh 
because  they  don't  tend  to  have  our  facilities.  They  do  pretty  well 
on  their  displays  of  fish,  though  it  depends  on  where  you  are.  I 
think  we're  always  inclined  to  romanticize  France,  whereas  we  do 
pretty  well  here." 

But  wait!  Romantic  it  seems  and,  surely,  romantic  it  should 
remain.  Or  else,  where  would  we  armchair  travelers  head  for  next? 
On  the  facing  page  is  one  of  Julia  Child's  recipes  for  Mediterranean 
fish  stew,  specially  adapted  for  Oceanus. 

As  you  go  out  and  buy  the  ingredients,  imagine  yourself  at  the 
Criee  aux  Poissons,  haggling  with  a  fishwife.  Once  you've  finally 
made  your  way  back  to  your  little  villa,  through  the  crowds  and  the 
swerving  bicyclistes,  once  you've  prepared  this  wonderful 
concoction,  be  sure  to  take  it  out  onto  your  tiled  patio  with  a  lovely 
bottle  of  Cotes  de  Provence.  And  with  each  whiff  of  the  aroma  of 
your  stew,  be  certain  not  to  miss  the  subtle  smell  of  the  sea  air  as  it 
wafts  gently  past  you.  ... 


MEDITERRANEAN  FISH  STEW 

(makes  about  2  '/.,  quarts,  enough  for  6  to  8  people) 

Ingredients 
SOUP  BASE 

'/.,  cup  fruity  olive  oil. 

1  cup  sliced  onions  and  1  cup  sliced  white  of  leek  (or  2  cups  onions). 
6  to  8  tomatoes,  cored  but  unpeeled,  roughly  chopped. 

8  large  cloves  unpeeled  garlic ,  chopped. 

'/,tsp.  thyme,  '/,  tsp.  fennel  seeds,  3  big  pinches  saffron  threads, 
and  a  3-  by  1-inch  piece  of  dried  orange  peel. 

Either:  2  quarts  of  trimmings  from  fresh ,  non-oily  fish  or  shellfish, 
2  '/.,  quarts  water  and  1  Tbsp.  salt — or:   7  quart  clam  juice  or 
chicken  broth,  1  ' I, quarts  water,  and  salt  to  taste. 

FISH 

2  pounds  lean  fish  fillets  (cod,  hake,  monkjish,  sea  bass,  catfish, 

snapper,  or  halibut).   It  can  all  be  of  one  kind,  but  a  variety  is 
preferable. 

Equipment 

A  heavy  8-quart  kettle  or  casserole  and  a  large  sieve  or  colander. 

Instructions 

Stir  into  the  kettle  or  casserole  the  onions,  leeks,  and  olive  oil; 

simmer  5  minutes  until  tender  hut  not  brown.    Stir  in  the  toma- 
toes and  garlic,  and  cook  5  minutes  more.   Then  add  the  rest  of 
the  ingredients  for  the  soup  base  and  bring  to  the  boil.    Skim, 
and  boil  slowly,  uncovered,  for  about  40  minutes.   Strain, 
pressing  the  juices  out  of  the  ingredients,  correct  the  seasoning, 
and  set  it  aside  uncovered. 

Bring  the  soup  base  to  the  simmer.   Meanwhile,  cut  the  fish  fillets 
into  medium-size  serving  chunks.   Add  to  the  broth,  and  simmer 
about  5  minutes  until  the  fish  is  cooked  through. 

Serving  suggestion:    Serve  the  soup  just  as  it  is,  accompanied  by 
rounds  of  hard-toasted  French  bread  (croiites),  and  a  bowl  of 
freshly  grated  Parmesan  cheese,  perhaps  with  the  Mediterra- 
nean red  garlic  sauce  called  rouille  (see  page  25,  The  Way  to 
Cook). 

Then,  as  Julia  Child  would  say  in  her  unmistakable  staccato  voice, 
"Bon  appetit!" 


89 


Oceanus  magazine  is  proud  to  offer  this  collector's  edition, 
signed,  limited  reproduction  of  Sig  Purwin's  recent  work, 
"(The  iUtsHiarh."  This  rendition  of  the  iUtsmarch,  resting  on 
the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic  as  it  was  discovered  in  1989  by 
WHOI  Senior  Scientist  and  explorer,  Robert  Ballard,  origi- 
nally appeared  on  the  cover  of  our  Fall  1989  issue. 

It  is  now  available  to  you  as  a  signed,  framed  (19"  x  22"), 
expertly  crafted  work.  There  were  only  250  of  these  beauti- 
ful reproductions  produced,  and  they  are  going  quickly.  Act 
now  by  sending  your  check  or  money  order  for  $200.00 
(U.S.),  payable  to  the  Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institu- 
tion, today. 


Bismarck    Art 

c/o  Oceanus  magazine 

Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institution 

Woods  Hole,  MA  02543 


LETTERS 


To  the  Editor: 

I  have  been  intending  to  write  to  you  for  some 
time  to  express  my  admiration  for  your 
splendid  work,  Occanus.  The  recent  issue  with 
the  theme,  "Pacific  Century,  Dead  Ahead!" 
(Vol.  32,  No.  4)  forced  my  hand.  It's  hard  to 
imagine,  but  each  edition  is  better  than  the 
preceding  one.  I  read  it  cover-to-cover  and 
always  come  away  better  educated. 

One  small  point:  to  my  knowledge,  there 
are  no  Typhoon-class  SSBNs  operating  out  of 
the  Soviet  Far  East,  as  was  suggested  in  the 
caption  on  page  18. 

I  was  particularly  fascinated  by  the  issue 
because  I  also  had  the  opportunity  to  travel  to 
Vladivostok  last  November  and  was  on  hand 
to  watch  the  traditional  naval  parade  on 
November  7th.  I  was  told  this  was  the  first 
year  that  no  naval  hardware  was  displayed, 
except  for  the  usual  ceremonial  ships  at  anchor 
in  Vladivostok  harbor.  My  hosts  said  it  was 
Gorby's  way  of  de-emphasizing  military 
power. 

As  a  fellow  editor,  I  know  the  hard  work 
and  long  time  that  is  necessary  to  put  out  a 
quality  publication  and  that  is  quite  evident 
with  Oceanus.  I  applaud  you  for  your  fine 
efforts  and  salute  your  contribution  to 
educating  your  readers  about  the  importance 
of  the  seas. 

Deam  Given 
Editor/Publisher  Subnotes 


To  the  Editor: 

While  it's  true  that  the  International  Whaling 
Commission  (IWC)  moratorium  on  whaling  is 
unlikely  to  end  in  1991  ("Oops!,"  Vol.  32,  No.  4, 
page  85),  this  doesn't  necessarily  mean  that 
whaling  won't  start  up  again.  On  the  contrary, 
as  nations  opposed  to  the  ban  have  made  clear, 
unless  some  exceptions  are  made  that  would 
allow  hunting  of  certain  "recovered"  stocks  of 
whales,  these  countries  may  well  quit  the  IWC 
and  resume  whaling  under  a  new  regulatory 
body  of  their  own  creation.  Indeed,  the  Ice- 
landic scientist  Johann  Sigurjonsson  expressly 
warned  of  such  a  possibility  in  his  article  in 
your  whale  issue  (Vol.  32,  No.  1,  pp.  29-36). 

Frederic  Golden 
San  Francisco,  CA 


To  the  Editor: 

The  issue  of  Ocecinus  on  the  Pacific  Century 
(Vol.  32,  No.  4)  is  an  extremely  interesting  one 
that  will  be  very  useful  in  my  teaching. 

Associate  Professor  Theodore  C.  Bestor 

Anthropology  and  East  Asian  Studies 

Columbia  University,  New  York,  NY 

To  the  Editor: 

My  compliments  on  your  fine  job  of  research- 
ing the  Bismarck  (Vol.  32,  No.  3) — a  job  well 
clone.  There  were  several  pictures,  apart  from 
the  recent  underwater  shots,  that  I  had  not  yet 
seen. 

The  story  was  captivating.  The  Bismarck 
was  an  extraordinary  ship,  literally  unsinkable 
in  the  sense  that  dinosaurs  were  forever.  The 
last  ship  of  her  class,  the  epitome  of  a  tech- 
nique— and  to  fight  a  battle — which  was 
obsolete.  Brought  down  by  a  miserly  Sword- 
fish  and  a  torpedo,  and  then,  at  the  end,  had  to 


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extended  range  underwater  (submer- 
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more  light  gathering  ability.  Ideal  for 
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91 


sink  herself  because  the  enemy's  weapon  could 
only  ravage  but  not  sink  her. 

I  found  your  article  more  interesting  and 
informative  than  the  one  in  National  Geographic, 
and  was  under  the  impression  that  their  article 
had  been  scaled  down  significantly. 

Klaus  Lindemann 
Jakarta,  Indonesia 

EDITOR'S  NOTE:  Klaus  Lindemann  is  a 
relative  of  the  Bismarck's  Captain  Ernst  Linde- 
mann, whose  picture  appeared  on  page  10  of 
that  issue. 


To  the  Editor: 

I  recently  saw  the  special  issue  of  Oceanus 
dedicated  to  the  matter  of  ports  and  harbors 
(Vol.  32,  No.  3).  Since  I  have  been  working  on 
a  United  Nations  Environmental  Programme 
(UNEP)  report  concerned  with  the  state  of  the 
world's  oceans,  I  found  the  various  articles 
most  informative.  Your  recent  Oceanus  has 
added  significantly  to  my  understanding  of 
world  harbors. 

However,  I  was  struck  by  the  fact  that 
despite  the  several  articles  dedicated  to  the 
many  aspects  of  ports  and  harbors,  none  added 


Attention  Students  &  Teachers... 

Oceanus  offers  special  rates  to  you!  A 
student  subscription  is  only  $20  a  year,  a 
savings  of  $5. 

And  to  you  teachers,  remember,  we  offer 
a  25  percent  discount  on  bulk  orders  of 
five  or  more  copies.  A  discount  also 
applies  to  a  one-year  subscription  for 
class  adoption  ($20  a  subscription). 

Interested  in  an  internship? 

Oceanus  would  like  to  hear  from  anyone 
interested  in  being  an  intern  with  us.  If 
you  have  excellent  English  skills  and  a 
strong  background  in  science,  we  have  a 
place  reserved  for  you.  For  more  infor- 
mation, contact  the  Assistant  Editor, 
T.M.  Hawley,  at  (508)  548-1400,  ext,  2393. 


substantively  to  the  argument  that  in  the 
future,  water  transport  must  be  greatly  en- 
hanced in  this  country.  This  would  include 
transportation  between  coastal  maritime  ports 
and  ports  along  the  various  inland  waterways 
leading  to  our  principal  midwestern  and  south- 
western cities.  There  are  many  compelling  ar- 
guments today  about  increasing  the  tonnage  of 
materials  moved  by  waterborne  vessels.  The 
fact  is  that  very  few  people  seem  familiar  with 
the  possibilities  inherent  in  maritime  transpor- 
tation. 

Moving  materials  by  water,  today,  can  be 
done  very  rapidly  (well  over  30  miles  an  hour), 
with  far  less  expenditure  of  energy  than  con- 
ventional surface  or  air  transportation,  and  can 
be  implemented  and  conducted  without  any 
pollution  whatsoever. 

I  therefore  question,  why  wasn't  a  signifi- 
cant article  put  in  the  issue  that  dealt  with:  1) 
the  various  forms  of  economical,  nonpolluting, 
and  energy-saving  marine  transportation,  and 
2)  what  has  to  be  done  to  upgrade  the  port/ 
harbor  infrastructure  to  service  expanded 
maritime  commerce — especially  where  the 
lines  of  commerce  might  extend  into  the 
"heartlands?" 

John  R.  Pearce 

Deputy  Center  Director 

DOC/NOAA/NMFS/NEFC 

Washington,  DC 

EDITOR'S  REPLY:  Because  of  space  con- 
straints, we  limited  our  coverage  to  marine 
coastal  areas.  We  did  cover  inland  waterways 
briefly  on  pages  42  and  43. 

To  the  Editor: 

In  order  to  relieve  Captain  John  Bean's 
puzzlement  over  the  pronunciation  of  the 
word  "quay"  (Letters,  Vol.  32,  No.  4),  I 
offer  the  following  limerick,  one  of  my 
originals: 

There  was  a  young  man  on  a  quay 

Who  was  sipping  a  glass  of  iced  tuay. 

On  a  peel  his  heel  slipped, 

His  whole  body  flipped, 

Over  the  edge  and  into  the  suay. 

My  first  visit  to  Woods  Hole  was  as  a  nine-year 
old  in  1910.  I  consider  your  well-edited  maga- 
zine the  most  deeply  interesting  of  all  that  I 
read. 

Richard  Edes  Harrison 
New  York,  NY 


92 


BOOK  REVIEWS 


Book  ofQues 
and  Answers 


Don  Groves 


TJie  Oceans:  A  Book  of  Questions  and 
Ansivers  by  Don  Groves.  1989.  John  Wiley  & 
Sons,  New  York,  New  York.  205  pp.  +  xviii. 
$12.95. 

Seas  and  Oceans:  A  Reference  Dictionary*  by 
Barbara  Charton  and  John  Tietjen  (Science 
Advisor).  1989.  Collins,  Glasgow,  Scotland. 
458pp.  £5.95. 

Here  are  two  books  that  will  be  of  interest  to 
some  Occanus  readers.  Not  only  are  they 
informative,  but  they  are  small  pocketbooks, 
and  relatively  inexpensive. 

The  question-and-answer  book  by  Groves 
is  actually  more  appealing  than  it  might  appear 
from  its  title.  I  first  thought  it  was  going  to  be 
a  collection  of  short  questions  and  quick 
answers,  but  it's  better  than  that.  The 
questions  are  presented  in  a  coherent  series  of 


seven  categories:  the  physical  ocean,  the 
chemical  ocean,  the  biological  ocean,  the 
geological  ocean,  the  meteorological  ocean,  the 
engineer's  ocean,  and  the  global  ocean — past, 
present,  and  future.  There  are  also  five  tables 
detailing  various  characteristics  and 
dimensions  of  the  ocean,  an  18-page  glossary,  a 
bibliography,  and  a  good  index. 

The  questions  range  from  the  general,  such 
as  "What  is  a  physical  oceanographer  and 
what  do  they  do?,"  to  some  more  specific  ones 
such  as  "What  kinds  of  currents  are  there  and 
what  causes  them?"  Others  delve  into  the 


*  Available  in  hardcover  in  the  United  States  as 
The  Facts  on  File  Dictionary  of  Marine  Science. 
1988.  Facts  on  File,  460  Park  Ave.  S.,  New  York, 
New  York  1001 6.  326pp.  $24.95. 

93 


unimportant,  such  as  "What  are  the  seven 
seas?"  or  "How  many  kinds  of  tides  are  there?" 
The  answer  to  the  last  question  is  three  types: 
semidiurnal,  diurnal,  and  mixed.  This  is 
probably  not  the  answer  most  physical 
oceanographers  might  have  given,  but  the  one 
most  understandable  by  a  general  reader  (the 
types  are  described). 

In  a  way,  the  questions  are  a  general 
introduction  to  the  various  fields  of  marine 
science.  The  answers  sometimes  go  on  for  a  few 
paragraphs  or  even  pages.  Some  questions  are 
very  insightful,  but  a  few  are  meant  to  titillate 
and  would  have  been  better  left  out.  For 
example,  there  are  two  questions  concerning 
Atlantis  (the  lost  civilization,  not  the  ship).  Mr. 
Groves  leaves  us  with  the  opinion  that  perhaps 
Atlantis  is  really  not  a  myth,  reminding  us  that 
for  thousands  of  years  the  cities  of  Troy, 
Pompeii,  and  Herculaneum  were  also 
considered  to  be  mythical  places.  He  further 
pursues  the  subject  of  evidence  of  Atlantis  and 
implies  that  the  odd  5,000-  to  7,000-mile 
breeding  migration  of  eels  may  have  something 
to  do  with  avoiding  an  ancient  land  mass. 

These  little  things  aside,  the  book  does 
make  for  interesting  reading  and  could  be  a  nice 
present  for  somebody  who  has  a  passing 
interest  in  the  ocean.  The  author  makes  it  very 
clear  in  his  preface  that  the  book  is  not  intended 
for  professional  practitioners  of  oceanography 
and  ocean  engineering.  Indeed,  we  already 
have  enough  books. 

Sens  and  Oceans  is  clearly  a  reference 
dictionary  of  various  and  numerous  terms 
related  to  all  aspects  of  oceanography.  It  is 
apparently  one  of  a  series  of  reference 
dictionaries  ranging  from  biology  to  music. 
Unfortunately,  the  book  does  not  explain  its 
rationale.  It  just  starts  with  "Abalone"  and 
continues  436  pages  later  to  "Zostera"  (eel 
grass). 

Along  the  way  it  defines  many  oceano- 
graphic  and  geographic  terms.  It  also  gives 
brief  biographies  of  some  early  explorers  and 
individuals  who  were  directly,  or  indirectly  (for 
example,  German  meteorologist  Gabriel  Daniel 
Fahrenheit,  who  devised  the  well-known 
temperature  scale),  related  to  oceanography. 

This  book  seems  more  appropriate  for 
oceanographers  than  the  general  public.  It  also 
has  a  series  of  appendices,  one  on  the  geologic 
time  scale,  another  listing  important  events  in 
marine  history,  including  many  I  never  knew 
about  before.  There  is  also  an  appendix  on  the 
taxonomic  classification  of  plants  and  animals 
and  a  small  one  on  the  Law  of  the  Sea  Treaty. 

J 

94 


My  one  peeve  is  that  entries  in  the  book  are 
considerably  skewed  toward  biological  subjects. 
The  sea  anemone  gets  almost  a  page,  as  does  the 
sea  cucumber.  The  entry  for  the  complicated 
geological  process  of  seafloor  spreading  says 
"see  ocean,"  and  there  it  gets  only  a  paragraph. 
Oh  well,  many  of  my  biology  friends  have  told 
me  that  seafloor  spreading  was  not  that 
important  anyway.  Their  entry  for  "eel"  is 
about  twice  the  size  as  that  for  seafloor 
spreading,  but  at  least  there's  no  reference  to 
Atlantis. 

There  is  considerable  cross-referencing 
between  individual  entries,  which  is  helpful  in 
gathering  information.  This  book  will  also  be 
useful  to  science  writers — in  fact  they  might  be 
the  ones  who  would  benefit  most  from  this  type 
of  volume. 

David  A.  Ross 

Chairman,  Geology  and  Geophysics 
Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institution 


Tmditlom  and  Memories  of 

AMERICAN 
YACHTING 


The  50th  Anniversary  Edition 
William  P  Stephens 


Traditions  and  Memories  of  American  Yachting, 
the  50th  Anniversary  Edition  by  William  P. 
Stephens.  1989.  WoodenBoat  Publications, 
Brooklin,  Maine.  467  pp.  +  xii.  $49.95. 

William  P.  Stephens  is  rightfully  known  as  the 
dean  of  American  yachting.  His  memories  and 
commentary  on  American  yachting  are  the  most 
important  source  of  information  on  the  develop- 


For  high-quality  research  on  all  aspects  of  the  global  climate 

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system,  reach  for  one  journal 


Climate 

Dynamics 

Observational,  Theoretical  and 
_  Computational  Research  on  the  Climate  System  __«, 


Executive  Editors: 

W.L.  Gates,  H.  Oeschger 

•  The  only  journal  focusing  on  the  physical, 
chemical  and  biological  interactions  that  effect 
the  global  climate  system. 

•  An  authoritative  resource  for  original 
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atmosphere,  oceans,  cryosphere,  biomass,  and 
land  surface  as  interacting  components  of 
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•Brings  you  up  to  date  reports  on  develop- 
ments in  observational,  analytical,  and  compu- 
tational methods. 

•  Integrates  different  approaches  to  provide 
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•"  It  is  clear  that  there  is  a  need  for  a 
journal  of  this  type,  and  that  Climate 
Dynamics  has  the  support  of  the  most 
prominent  members  of  the  community. 
It  promises  to  be  an  important  addition  to 
the  list  of  climate  and  interdisciplinary 
research  publications."  —  Nature 


Selected  articles  from  Climate  Dynamics 

Glacial  meltwater  cooling  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico:  GCM  implications  for  Holocene 
and  present-day  climates,  R.J.  Oglesby  et  al. 

A  GCM  study  of  Antarctic  glaciation, 
R.J.  Oglesby 

Lake  levels  and  climatic  change  in  eastern 
North  America,  S.P.  Harrison 

The  dynamical  range  of  global  circulations  II, 
G.P.  Williams 

Self-generated  aperiodic  behaviour  in  a  simple 
climate  model,  J.M.  Salazar,  C.  Nicolis 


Put  Climate  Dynamics  to  work  for  you. 

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95 


ment  of  the  sport  in  this  country.  Jonathan 
Wilson,  the  creator  and  editor  of  WoodenBoat 
magazine,  has  done  the  yachting  world  a  huge 
favor  by  repackaging  and  printing  Stephens' 
writing  in  what  is  its  first  truly  accessible  form. 

Wilson's  book,  beautifully  designed  and 
printed,  is  the  fifth  edition  of  a  collection  of 
articles  by  Stephens  that  originally  appeared  in 
Motor  Boating  Magazine  between  1939  and  1946. 
In  the  new  WoodenBoat  edition,  the  articles 
have  been  retypeset,  the  original  art  located 
whenever  possible  and  carefully  reproduced, 
and  some  45  additional  pieces  of  art  have  been 
added.  The  most  important  part  of  this  lovely 
book,  however,  is  its  index.  Since  the  book  is  a 
series  of  articles,  there  is  no  particular  order  to 
the  information.  Mary  Jo  Davies'  index  will 
prove  a  veritable  Rosetta  stone  to  anyone  using 
this  work  for  research. 

All  yachtsmen  should  be  familiar  with  at 
least  some  of  the  writings  of  Stephens.  His  life 
spanned  a  significant  and,  I  think,  the  best  era  of 
American  yachting — 1854  to  1946.  Stephens  was 
a  talented  and  salty  writer  with  an  engineer's 
ability  to  see  to  the  heart  of  things.  His  yachting 
career  included  (incredibly):  organizing  the 
Society  of  Naval  Architects  and  Marine  Engi- 
neers in  1893;  editing  Lloyd's  register  of  Ameri- 
can yachts  for  29  years;  originating  the  Seawan- 
haka  Cup;  designing  a  number  of  good  and 
great  race-boats;  designing,  building,  sailing, 
and  winning  races  in  many  sailing  canoes; 
acting  as  historian  of  the  Cruising  Club  of 
America;  rewriting  all  the  yachting  definitions 
for  Johnson's  Enci/clouedia;  and — most  lucky  for 
us — researching,  sailing,  and  commenting  upon 
every  yacht  and  workboat-cum-vacht  of  the  era. 

j     j  j 

Stephens'  book  is  a  must-read  for  anyone 
even  remotely  interested  in  yachting.  From  the 
first  chapter,  "The  Genesis  of  American  Yacht- 
ing," in  which  we  read  about  a  racing  catamaran 
built  in  1820,  through  the  chapter  on  Sand- 
baggers,  which  were  equipped  with  hiking  racks 
for  movable  ballast  and  had  hand-rubbed 
graphite  bottoms,  Stephens'  book  is  riveting. 
Here  is  a  carefully  written  commentary  on  the 
history  of  the  America's  Cup  by  a  man  who  was 
on  the  committee  boat  for  most  of  the  matches 
he  describes. 

Nor  will  the  reader  languish  through  dry 
writing.  He  describes  a  test  match  between  two 
dissimilar  boats  as  "a  pig  and  eagle  race.  .  . 
sailed  at  the  end  of  the  season.  .  .  in  a  fruitless 
attempt  to  obtain  reliable  data  in  the  very  heated 
controversy  over  a  proposed  change  in  the 
classification."  He  also  comments:  "Though  the 
centerboard  or  'shifting  keel'  is  believed  to  be  an 


English  invention,  it  was  long  regarded  by 
Englishmen  with  the  same  aversion  with  which 
Americans  looked  upon  the  lead  keel."  I 
particularly  enjoyed  Stephen's  assessment  of 
Lord  Dunraven:  "Having  broken  into  yachting 
with  the  enthusiasm  and  finesse  of  a  bull  in  a 
china  shop,  Lord  Dunraven,  undeterred  by  the 
failure  of  Petronilla,  aimed  at  no  less  a  mark  than 
the  America's  Cup." 

In  short,  this  fantastic  collection  of  impor- 
tant history,  juicy  writing,  and  lovely  evocation 
of  times  past  is  now  available  in  a  wonderfully 
readable  format  for  yachtsman  and  landlubber 
alike. 

Elizabeth  Meyer 

Yachting  Historian  and  Yacht  Restorer 

The  Museum  of  Yachting 

Newport,  Rhode  Island 


HERRESHOFF 

of  Bristol 


A  Photographic  History  of  America's 
Greatest  \frcht  and  Boat  Builders 

Maynaid  Bray  and  Carton  Pinheiro 


Herreshoff  of  Bristol:  A  Photographic  History 
of  America's  Greatest  Yacht  and  Boat  Builders 
by  Maynard  Bray  and  Carlton  Pinheiro.  1989. 
WoodenBoat  Publications,  Brooklin,  Maine. 
241  pp.  +  vi.  $45.00. 

I  was  one  of  those  sailboat  lovers  who  assumed 
they  could  spot  a  Herreshoff  design  anywhere— 
distinctively  feminine,  lean,  alive  with  motion, 


clean,  simple — a  look  that  is  both  durable  and 
fragile  at  the  same  time.  Perhaps  I  wasn't  able 
to  identify  each  Herreshoff  by  its  name,  as  can  a 
friend  of  mine,  and  sometimes  I  confused  the 
work  of  the  master,  Captain  Nat,  with  that  of  his 
son,  L.  Francis.  But  I  could  recognize  that 
Herreshoff  look  in  any  harbor.  Or  so  I  thought 
until  I  read  this  book  and  learned  how  limited 
was  my  Herreshoff  knowledge. 

John  Brown  Herreshoff,  blind  from  boy- 
hood, was  the  businessman,  builder,  and 
manager  of  The  Herreshoff  Manufacturing 
Company.  Nathanael  Greene  Herreshoff  was 
his  perfect  partner,  the  consummate  engineer 
and  designer.  In  this  age  of  mass-produced 
images,  engineering  specialists,  and  team 
design,  the  scope  and  capacity  of  these  two 
brothers  is  simply  incredible. 

Together,  over  a  35-year  span  in  their 
Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  shops  they  created  an 
awesome  array  of  marine  innovation  and 
beauty.  They  designed  and  built  the  world's 
fastest  steam  yachts  and  torpedo  boats,  includ- 
ing the  engines.  From  their  shops  came  the 
largest  and  most  powerful  racing  sloops  that 
ever  sailed — five  of  which  successfully  defended 
the  America's  Cup — and  a  score  of  yachting's 
most  successful  designs,  from  the  famous 
"twelve-and-a-half"  to  the  New  York  50.  They 
custom-made  hundreds  of  boats,  many  for  the 
rich  and  outrageously  demanding  robber  barons 
of  the  19th  century.  In  1875,  they  patented  a 
catamaran  design.  They  conceived  the  first  fin 
keeler,  the  first  duralumin  mast,  both  cross-cut 
and  full-battened  sails,  and  the  longitudinal 
construction  method  for  hulls — enough  engi- 
neering and  boat-building  ingenuity  to  fill  the 
lives  of  at  least  a  dozen  normal  men. 

This  book  is  billed  as  a  "photographic 
history,"  and  with  more  than  250  photos  it 
certainly  qualifies  as  such.  But  the  authors  have 
given  us  much,  much  more.  The  photos  are 
very  crisply  reproduced  and  many  are  pub- 
lished here  for  the  first  time.  More  importantly, 
they  illuminate  and  direct  us  through  the  entire 
compelling  story. 

It  is  a  story  of  what  may  arguably  be  the 
finest  engineering  art  America  has  ever  pro- 
duced in  sailing  craft  and  steamboats.  It  is  also  a 
story  of  the  professional  lives  and  values  of  two 
men  who,  in  so  many  ways,  exemplify  this 
country  during  its  golden  age  of  industry.  This 
significant  book  is  carefully  researched,  well 
written,  and  skillfully  printed. 

Dodge  Morgan 
Portland,  Maine 


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97 


BOOKS  RECEIVED 


BIOLOGY 


Birds  Asleep  by  Alexander  F. 
Skutch.  1989.  University  of 
Texas  Press,  Austin,  TX.  219  pp. 
$24.95. 

The  Herring  Gull's  World  by 

Niko  Tinbergen.  1989.  Lyons  & 
Burford,  New  York,  NY.  255  pp. 
$14.95. 

The  Legacy  of  the  Tethys:  An 
Aquatic  Biogeography  of  the 
Levant  by  Francis  P.  Dor.  1989. 
Kluwer  Academic  Publishers, 
Dordrecht,  The  Netherlands. 
214  pp.  +  xii.  $82.00. 


Orcas  of  the  Gulf:  A  Natural 
History  by  Gerald  Gormley. 
1990.  Sierra  Club  Books,  San 
Francisco,  CA.  166pp.  $24.95. 

Return  of  the  Whooping  Crane 

by  Robin  W.  Doughty.  1989. 
University  of  Texas  Press, 
Austin,  TX.  182pp.  $24.95. 


ENVIRONMENT 


Earthmind  by  Paul  Devereux, 
John  Steele,  and  David  Kubrin. 
1989.  Harper  &  Row,  New  York, 
NY.  235pp.  $17.95. 


Global  Climate  Change: 
Human  and  Natural  Influences 
edited  by  S.  Fred  Singer.  1989. 
Paragon  House,  New  York,  NY. 
424pp.  $34.95. 

Our  Seabed  Frontier: 
Challenges  and  Choices  by  the 
Marine  Board  of  the  National 
Research  Council.  1989. 
National  Academy  Press, 
Washington,  DC.  138  pp. 
$30.00. 

Report  to  the  Congress  on 
Ocean  Pollution,  Monitoring, 
and  Research  by  the  U.S. 
Department  of  Commerce 
NOAA.  1989.  United  States 
Department  of  Commerce, 
NOAA,  Rockville,  MD.  68  pp. 
Free. 


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SECOND  WORLD 
CLIMATE  CONFERENCE 

GENEVA,  29  OCTOBER-7  NOVEMBER  1990 

The  Second  World  Climate  Conference,  sponsored  by 
WMO,  UNEP,  UNESCO  and  ICSU,  will  be  held  in 
Geneva  29  October-7  November  1990.  Topics  of 
discussion  shall  include  the  World  Climate  Programme 
and  the  issue  of  climate  change,  including  consideration 
of  the  Report  of  IPCC.  Attendence  will  be  by  invitation 
only,  but  will  include  senior  authors  of  Poster  Session 
papers  accepted.    For  further  information  on  Poster 
Session  papers,  which  are  to  be  submitted  by  1 5  May 
1990,  write  to: 

Co-ordinator  SWCC 
c/o  World  Meteorological  Organization 

P.O.  Box  2300 
1211  Geneva  2,  Switzerland 


98 


Turning  up  The  Heat  by  Fred 
Pearce.  1989.  Grafton  Books, 
London,  England.  230  pp. 
£4.99. 


FIELD  GUIDES 


Chesapeake  Bay:  Nature  of 
the  Estuary,  A  Field  Guide  by 

Christopher  P.  White.  1989. 
Tidewater  Publishers, 
Centreville,  MD.  212  pp. 

$12.95. 

Reptiles  and  Amphibians  of 
The  World  by  Massimo 
Capula.  1989.  Simon  & 
Schuster,  New  York,  NY.  256 
pp.  $10.95. 


GENERAL  READING 


The  Compleat  Surfcaster  by  C. 

Boyd  Pfeiffer.  1989.  Lyons  & 
Burford,  New  York,  NY.  200  pp. 
$14.95. 

The  Day  That  Lightning 
Chased  the  Housewife  and 
Other  Mysteries  of  Science 
edited  by  Julia  Leigh  &  David 
Savold.  1989.  Harper  &  Row, 
New  York,  NY.  229pp.  $7.95. 

Latin  American  Politics:  A 
Theoretical  Framework  by 
Torcuato  S.  Di  Telia.  1990. 
University  of  Texas  Press, 
Austin,  TX.  236pp.  $27.50. 

Lucy's  Child:  The  Discovery  of 
a  Human  Ancestor  by  Donald 
Johanson  and  James  Shreeve. 
1989.  William  Morrow  & 
Company,  New  York,  NY.  318 
pp.  $22.95. 

Six  Days  In  Havana  by  James  A. 
Michener  and  John  Kings.  1989. 
University  of  Texas  Press, 
Austin,  TX.  144  pp.  $24.95. 


THE  FUNDAMENTALS 
OF  CTD  ACCURACY 

Because  Sea-Bird's  modular 
sensors  make  calibration  so 
easy  and  economical,  Sea- 
Bird  users  have  amassed  an 
unprecedented  history  of 
documented  accuracy  and 
stability. 

No  other  CTD  offers  so 
direct  a  link  between  fun- 
damental standards  and 
field  performance. 

Every  Sea-Bird  temperature 
and  conductivity  sens€>r  is 
calibrated  against  Junda- 
<^         mental  standards  by  the 
.J-2       Northwest  Regional  Calibra- 
tion Center,  an  independent 
contractor  to  the  United 
States  Government. 


Sea-Bird  Electronics,  Inc  1808  1 36th  Place  NE  Belle\ne,  Washington  98005  USA 
Telephone:  ( 206)  6-«3-9866  •  Telex:  292915  SBEI IFR  .  Telefax:  ( 206)  643-9954 


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OCEANOGRAPHY 


Biomass  Yields  and  Geography 
of  Large  Marine  Ecosystems  by 

Kenneth  Sherman  and  Lewis  M. 
Alexander.  1989.  Westview 
Press,  Boulder,  CO  493  pp. 

$45.00. 


Chemical  Oceanography 
SEAREX:  The  Sea/Air 
Exchange  Program,  Volume  10 

edited  by  J.  P.  Riley  and  R. 
Chester.  1989.  Harcourt  Brace 
Jovanovich,  New  York,  NY. 
404pp.  $48.00. 

Productivity  of  The  Ocean: 
Present  and  Past  by  W.  H. 
Berger,  V.  S.  Smetacek,  and 
G.  Wefer.  1989.  John  Wiley  & 
Sons,  Somerset,  NJ.  473  pp. 
$146.00. 


NEW  FROM  CALIFORNIA 
The  Pinnipeds 

Seals,  Sea  Lions,  and  Walruses 
MARIANNE  RIEDMAN 

Riedman  brings  together  a  wealth  of  material  on  these  fascinat- 
ing marine  mammals..  She  reviews  the  intriguing  adaptations  of 
pinnipeds  to  a  great  range  of  often  harsh  conditions  and  discusses 
mothering,  nursing,  and  mating  strategies.  $29.95 

A  Systematic  Revision  of  the 
Deep'Sea  Subfamily  Lipomerinae 
of  the  Isopod  Crustacean  Family 

Munnopsidae 
GEORGE  D.  F.  WILSON 

The  author  provides  descriptions  and  geographic  distributions 
for  one  subfamily  (Lipomerinae)  in  a  larger  group  (Munnopsidae) 
that  have  secondarily  evolved  the  ability  to  swim  $16.00  paper 
Volume  27,  Bulletin  of  the  Scripps  Institution  of  Oceanography 


At  bookstores  or  order  toll-free  1-800-822-6657. 
Visa  &  MasterCard  only. 

University  of  California  Press 

Berkeley  94720 


UNESCO  Reports  in  Marine 
Science:  Year  2000  Challenges 
for  Marine  Science  Training 
and  Education  Worldwide  by 

Unesco.  1989.  Unesco,  Paris, 
France.  129pp.  Free. 


REFERENCE 


Adventuring  in  the  Caribbean 

by  Carrol  B.  Fleming.  1989. 
Sierra  Club  Books,  San 
Francisco,  CA.  388pp.  $12.95. 

Azimov's  Chronology  of 
Science  &  Discovery  by  Isaac 

Asimov.  1989.  Harper  &  Row, 
New  York,  NY.  737  pp.  $29.95. 

Marine  Parks  and  Aquaria  of 
the  United  States  by  Anthony 
L.  Paheco  and  Susan  E.  Smith. 
Lyons  &  Burford,  New  York, 
NY.  160pp.  $9.95. 

This  Is  Diving  by  Duilio 
Marcante.  1989.  Sheridan 
House,  Dobbs  Ferry,  NY.  160 
pp.  $24.95. 


SHIPS  AND  SAILING 


The  Cockpit  Quiz  Book  by  C. 

Dale  Nouse.  1989.  Seven  Seas 
Press,  Camden,  ME.  83  pp. 
$7.95. 

Historic  Ship  Models  by 

Wolfram  zu  Mondfeld.  1989. 
Sterling  Publishing,  New  York, 
NY.  352pp.  $19.95. 

Tropical  Shipwrecks  by  Daniel 
and  Denise  Berg.  1989.  Aqua 
Explorers,  East  Rockaway,  NY. 
150pp. +  x.  $18.95. 

Warships  of  the  Civil  War 
Navies  by  Paul  H.  Silverstone. 
1989.  Naval  Institute  Press, 
Annapolis,  MD.  272pp.  $36.95. 


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Oceanus 


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•  Sea  Grant  Issue, 

Vol.  3  1 :3,  Fall  1 988 — Covers  activities  from  biotechnology  to  estuary  rehabili- 
tation. 

•  U.S.  Marine  Sanctuaries, 

Vol.  31:1,  Spring  1 1)88 — Features  all  the  operating,  aiul  various  proposed,  sites. 

•[Caribbean     Marine     Science, 

Vol.  3d:  I,  \\ 'inter  1987/88 — Biology, geology,  resources,  and  human  impacts. 

•  Galapagos  Marine  Resources  Reserve, 

Vol.  <l):2.  Summer  1987 — Legal,  management,  scientific,  and  historical  asp 

•  The  Titanic  Revisited, 

Vol.  .''':  i,  1  all  1986 — Radioactivity  in  the  Irish  SIM,  oi_ean  architecture,  more. 


Vol.  28:2,  Summer  198S — The  oceans  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  modern  navy, 
strategy,  technology,  weapons  systems,  and  science. 

•  The  Exclusive  Economic  Zone, 

Vol.  2^:4,  Winter  1  984/85— Options  for  the  U.S.  EEZ. 

•  Deep-Sea  Hot  Springs  and  Cold  Seeps, 

Vol.  2~:3,  Fall  1984 — A  full  report  on  vent  science. 

•  Industry  and  the  Oceans, 

Vol.  27: 1 ,  Spring  1984 — The  interaction  of  the  oceans  and  industry, 

•  Sharks, 

Vol.  2-4: •(,  \Vinier  1981/82 — Behavior,  physiology,  repellants  &  swimmer's  ack  ice. 


Issues  not  listed  here,  including  those  published  pum  t<>  I1'   7,  an  oui  '>!  print. 
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300  North  /eeb  Ro.id.  Ann  Aihoi.  MI    ),XI()6. 

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Ul     LUC    ISUpVJU.    N_-L 

Munnopsidae 
GEORGE  D.  F.  WILSON 

The  author  provides  descriptions  and  geographic  distributions 
for  one  subfamily  (Lipomerinae)  in  a  larger  group  (Munnopsidae) 
that  have  secondarily  evolved  the  ability  to  swim  $16.00  paper 
Volume  27.  Bulletin  of  the  Scripps  Institution  of  Oceanography 


At  bookstores  or  order  toll-free  1-800-822-6657. 
Visa  &  MasterCard  only. 

University  of  California  Press 

Berkeley  94720 


Tropical  Shipwrecks  by  Daniel 
and  Denise  Berg.  1989.  Aqua 
Explorers,  East  Rockaway,  NY. 
150pp.  +  x.  $18.95. 


Warships  of  the  Civil  War 
Navies  by  Paul  H.  Silverstone. 
1989.  Naval  Institute  Press, 
Annapolis,  MD.  272pp.  $36.95. 


100 


Additional  <Rea(ii!$ 


,^  Issues  of 


Pacific  Century,  Dead  Ahead! 

Vol.  32:4,  Winter  1989/90— A  study  of  the  political  and 
economic  structure  of  the  Pacific  region  with  an  eye  toward 
the  future  and  the  important  role  that  this  region  will  play 
in  the  global  economy.  Piracy,  Greenpeace  in  the  Pacific 
and  dolphins.  1  st  1  n  ternational  Submarine  Races  and  a  fu- 
turistic look  at  the  Slocum  Mission.  f*f 


The  litsmarrh  Saga  and  Ports  &  Harbors 

Vol.  32:3,  Fall  1989— Highlights  the  little-known  U.S. 
involvement  in  the  heroic  battle  of  1941,  and  addresses 
the  question  of  whether  the  5/Vw<m-£was  sunk  or  scuttled, 
(apanese  port  innovations,  Dutch  successes,  Third- World 
problems,  and  American  plans  are  examined,  as  are  the 
longshoremen's  history  and  waterfront  renovation.  ?$• 


The  Oceans  and  Global  Warming 

Vol.  32:2,  Summer  1989 — Update  of  efforts  to  understand  and  predict 

ocean/atmosphere  interactions.   The  limits  of  computer  modeling,  Kl  Nino,  rising 

sea  levels  and  water  supplies,  a  worst-case  scenario,  and  Venus'  "runaway"  greenhouse  effect 

are  explored.   Also  articles  on  life  aboard  a  Soviet  research  vessel,  and  the  Jason  project.  ?f 


other  available,  issues 


•  Whither  the  Whales?, 

Vol.  32:1,  Spring  I'W) — Cetacean  research,  intelligence,  research  and  track- 
ing; whaling  and  dolphins. 

•  DSVAlvin:  25  Years  of  Discovery, 

Vol.  31  :-t,  \Vmici  ll>88/89 — A  review  of  the  history  and  contributions  o/£>51 

A  //'in. 

•  Sea  Grant  Issue, 

Vol.  31 :3.  I- .ill  1988 — (lovers  activities  trom  biotechnology  to  estuary  rehabili- 
tation. 

•  U.S.  Marine  Sanctuaries, 

Vol.  31:1 .  Spring  1988 — Features  all  the  operating,  and  various  proposed,  sires. 

•(Caribbean     Marine     Science, 

Vol.  30:4,  Winter  1 987/88 — Biology,  geology,  resources,  and  human  impacts. 

•  Galapagos  Marine  Resources  Reserve, 

Vol.  30:2,  Summer  1987 — Legal,  management,  scientific,  and  historical  asp 

•  The  Titanic  Revisited, 

Vol.  29:3,  Fall  1986 — Radioacrivitv  in  the  Irish  Sea,  ocean  architecture,  more. 


•  The  Great  Barrier  Reef:  Science  &  Management, 

Vol.  2l»:2,  Summer  ll>8(>  —  IVscrihes  the  world's  largest  coral  reef  system. 

•  Beaches,  Bioluminescence,  and  Pollution, 

Vol.  28:3,  Fall  1985 — Science  in  ("uba,  and  Jacques  Cousteau's  turbosail  vessel. 

•  The  Oceans  and  National  Security, 

Vol.  28:2,  Summer  1985 — The  oceans  from  the  viewpoint  ot  the  modern  navy, 
strategy,  technology,  weapons  systems,  and  science. 

•  The  Exclusive  Economic  Zone, 

Vol.  27:4,  Winter  1984/85— Options  for  the  U.S.  EEZ. 

•  Deep-Sea  Hot  Springs  and  Cold  Seeps, 

Vol.  2~:3,  Fall  1984 — A  full  report  on  vent  science. 

•  Industry  and  the  Oceans, 

Vol.  2~:  1 ,  Spring  1  984 — The  interaction  ot  the  oceans  and  industry. 

•  Sharks, 

Vol.  24:-i,  Winter  1 1>8  1  /82 — Behavior,  physiology,  repellants  &  swimmer's  advice. 


Issues  not  hsinl  IHK    including  those  published  prior  to  1977,  are  out  of  print. 

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