10 A
WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 14. 1963
MKDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFOHD. OREGON
Rivalry in the Ocean
Ujniittecl States Embarked on Program of ceami Research
Editor's notei ThU ii tht
second in sarin by our
Washington correspondent on
the intense rivalry baiwatn
tha Unitad Statas and Russia
in tha newly axpanding fiald
of ocaanography bacauia of
its military as wall as peace-
iul utility.)
By A. ROBERT SMITH
Mail Tribune
Washington Correspondent
Washington - Soviet Rus
sia's oceanography fleet, de
ployed to learn the vital se
crets of the world's oceans,
is more than twice as large as
the American oceanography
fleet
But the United States has
embarked upon a shipbuilding
program as part of the Ken
nedy administrations quiei
but determined effort to over
come the Soviet lead in under
sea research and exploration
which has certain military
importance and peaceful ec
onomic significance of un
certain dimensions.
While the race to land a
man on the moon has cap
tured world - wide attention,
both powers have simultane
ously entered a race to get
to the bottom of the seas to
unlock the treasure house of
scientific knowledge which
the oceans have guarded from
man ever since he pushed
off from shore in ancient
times.
The Soviet oceanography
fleet consists of 158 ships,
according to U. S. Navy
estimates. The American
oceanography fleet consists
of 76 vessels, and most of
these are over-age ships con
verted from some prior use
or taken from the "moth
ball fleet" to conduct
oceanic research on a make
shift basis.
But during the past year
the first three brand new
American ships, designed and
built specifically for modern
oceanographic research, have
put to sea. This is the first in
stallment on a construction
program which a high Navy
official says we "desperately
need." The administration's
10 - y e a r oceangraphy plan
calls for 120 oceanography
ships by 1972.
Government officials say
Small Worlds
Around Us
By LYNN M. WATKINS
(Register end Tribune
Syndicate: '.V3
More Than Man Interested
In Arrival Of Baby Turtles
The mud turtle left the
sheltering waters of the pond
and laboriously climbed the
sloping bank. We watched her
with binoculars as she exca
vated a deep hole in the
beach, up at the highest
point, and some distance from
the water. She covered the
eggs by kicking the sand
, over them with a sweeping
motion of her rear legs. She
seemed in a great hurry,
anxious probably to get back
to the safety of the pond.
Of course, we didn't know
it at the time, but other eyes,
aside from ours, must have
observed the incident, for
later events indicated we
were not the only ones inter
ested In those turtle eggs.
Mrs. Turtle returned to her
natural environment and
probably forgot the eggs she
had laid. She had lost all in
terest in them. What happen
ed to them from now on was
no concern of hers. Neither
did she care whether or not
any of her future offspring
ever survived to reach the
home pond. '
Our Interest however, was
more farsighted. We marked
the date of the egg laying on
a calendar. We wanted to be
back about the time the baby
turtles would leave their
sandy nursery. Neither did
we know then that the hatch
ing date was registered in the
minds of other creatures also
interested in baby turtles.
And too, this seemed like
an ideal time and place to try
out an idea. It has always
been argued among students
of wild creatures that baby
turtles newly hatched, found
tho water merely by walking
down the hill. This was a
reasonable deduction, for the
bank of a pond or stream is
always higher in elevation
than the water, often so steep
in fact, that a newly hatched
turtle could Just about turn
ble, head over tail, down hill
and into the pond, or stream.
The weather favored us
considerable. The summer was
hot, the rains were few and
of a skimpy amount and the
waters of the pond had re
ceded until the shore was
several yards wider than
when the eggs were de
posited.; Those baby turtles, now
nearly due to arrive, would
have to travel much farther
than did their mother when
she laid the eggs.
Made Changes
It was work, but we
changed the contour of the
shore in between the nest and
the edge of the pond. We also
altered the Incline, we slanted
it back away from Its natural
inclination. If the new-born
reacted to gravity alone, they
would go away from the
pond, following the incline
backwards.
We watched carefully dur
ing the critical days. We
wanted to be there when the
youngsters put in their first
appearance. We missed the
hatching, but we could read
the tracks in the sand.' There
had been no hesitancy on the
part of the newly hatched
turtles, they wasted no time
on inclines, or ground slant,
tney went over the artificial
hill, directly toward the water.
It was, in terms of dislance,
short trip, but It was a
dangerous one. The marks in
the sand told where the great
blue heron stood while he
gobbled some of the baby tur
tles. Plain too, were the paw
marks of a pair of raccoons;
tney ate some of the hurrying
youngsters.
One question at least was
partly answered; turtle babies
would seem to know where
they want to go, In spite of
up, or down hill. But those
other eyes that had watched
the egg laying, both bird and
animal, how did they know?
Did they remember a dnte, a
time, and a place; or did they
Just happen to be there on
the day of the hatching? .
Russia has 75 ihips operated
by its Navy and 83 non-Navy
snips, some of these are mod
ern, well-equipped vessels as
signed to basic research. Their
best known research ships in
elude the 6,000-ton Mikhail
Lomonosov, built in 1957 with
16 oceanographic laboratories
and space for about 75 scien
tists aboard; the 12,000-ton
Ob, built in 1953; and the
bvcryanka, a research sub
marine.
Some Russian vessels com
bine oceanography data col
lection with military intelli
gence and commercial fishing
not far off the American
coast, both East and West, in
international waters.
While the comparative sizes
of the fleets provide an index
of the Soviet and American
oceanography efforts, Rear
Admiral E. C. Stcphan points
out that more than mere ships
arc required for an effective
program. The ships collect a
large amount of data about
the oceans, but this data must
be processed and reduced to
usable form for various mili
tary and civilian purposes. In
this vital area American offl
clals believe they are ahead
of the Russians.'
Their oceanographic pro
gram is hampered by lack of
precise positioning. capability,
lack of modern precision in
strumentation for data acquisi
tion and by the lack of mod
ern data processing equipment
for rapid handling of survey
research data," said Admiral
Stephan, director of oceanog
raphy under the chief of naval
operations.
There is every indication
that the Russian oceanography
fleet has a data acquisition
This Data Center is but one
of the new functions of an old
line Navy agency, the Hydro
graphic Office, which a year
ago was renamed the Naval
Oceanographic Office, to sug
gest its expanded functions.
Previously, it was limited to
producing the navigational
maps and cnarts mat guiae
every vessel, large and small,
on the oceans or coastal and
inland waters.
Today the Oceanographic
Office is hard at work map
ping the bottom of oceans, de
termining wave conditions
which alfect shipping and na
val operations, and research
ing sub-surface temperatures
and currents-all of which has
immense military value in
this age of deep diving, long
ra n g e nuclear-powered missile-firing
submarines. It is
presumed ihe Soviets are do
ing similar work for similar
reasons.
The cost of keeping an
oceanographic research ship
at sea is about $2,000 per
day. Each temperature
reading of the oceans at
different seasons and vary
ing depths costs about $20
capability that has far out
stripped their ability to ana
lyze and process this data into
usable form. They probably
are better equipped to do
oceanography in support of
fishing operations than they
are to do the more precise
nd complicated military
ocennography."
To solve its own data
analysis problem, the U. S.
Navy created the National
Oceanographic Data Center,
located in an abandoned
naval gun factory in Wash
ington, D. C. With modorn
compulors, the Navy ex
pects to analyse raw data
transmitted from ships at
sea: then the processed data
will be transmitted back to
the ships where scientists
aboard will be able to de
termine when their ocean
ographic research has been
adequate in that area and
they can move on to an
other part of ihe sea.
when taken from a ship.
To cut this cost, the Navy
has developed buoys
equipped with thermistors
which cut the cost to about
75 cents per measurement.
"We are keeping ahead of
everybody in this field
Navy oceanographer declared.
Mapping the ocean floor is
the major function of the
ocean survey effort, which
Z X9'H i ...
QUEEN-SIZE SANDWICH - August is Na
tional Sandwich Month and pretty Marcia
Good, 23, of Las Vegas, Nev., is celebrating
in a big way as she prepares to bite into
a "queen-size" sandwich. (UPI)
Vote Expected on
Tax Cut Proposal
Washinglon-(UPII-The House
Ways and Means committee
today was expected to start
voting on President Kennedy's
$10.6 billion tax cut plan.
The committee was report
planning to approve al
most all of Kennedy's recom
mendations to lessen the tax
burden on individuals and
corporations. But the commit
tee is not expected to make
s final decisions until Thurs-
ay or Friday.
The Democrats on the com
mittee were generally enthu
siastic over the central fea
ture of the program an
across-the-board cut averag
ing 20 per cent in tax levies
for individuals.
Rep. John W. Byrnes (Wis.),
the committee's senior Repub
lican, said the GOP members
would feci the same if they
thought the admiuistration
would launch an all-out drive
to hold down deficit spending.
Bears Can Be Dangerous,
Warn U. S. Park Rangers
Beton Addresses
Insurance Convention
Portlnnd-OIPIl - All citizens
should give "active, sincere
and dedicated interest" to the
business of government. Stale
Treasurer Howard Belton said
Tuesday.
He spoke at the National
Association of Mutual Insur
ance Companies convention
here.
To neglect an interest in
government, Belton said, is
perilous.
He warned against exces
sive legislation and urged
strengthening of morality and
ethics.
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FRIDAY, August 16
We are delighted to open our second Rogue
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needs. With offices in Central Point and
White City we hope to better serve you.
ALFRED McCORMACK, JR.
Smokemont, N.C. - (UPI) -
Never trust a friendly-looking
bear. He may be cute, but
he's also the most dangerous
of North American wild ani
mals. This advice comes f'-om
rangers here In the Great
Smoky Mountains' national
park. But it's valid anywhere
a bear's loose - from Maine
to Glacier park, Mont., and
the Sierras of California.
Every summer unwary
tourists across the land and
in national parks arc scratch
ed, fanged or badly frighten
ed .by a suddenly angry bear.
People who try to be hos
pitable to bears regularly find
that Mr. Bear enthusiasticully
bites the hand that feeds him.
Take the case of a Dubuque,
Iowa, man who visited the
park here several years back.
Disobeying signs and printed
advice, he hopped out of his
car and went up to a friend
ly-looking mamma bear and
her cubs with an offering of
peanuts.
Mamma Bear
The she-bear, known as a
sow, thought the corn - state
tourist was trying to get be
tween her and the cubs, and
she look immediate excep
tion.
When a park ranger drove
by on patrol in his pickup
truck a few minutes later,
the motorist had retreated to
the top of his car - minus
part of his jacket and shirt -and
with a nasty scratch
down one arm. The bear was
I trying to get inside the car.
The lowan s wife was hys
terical. There is almost nothing lie
boorish tourist will not do to
and with bears. One man tried
to shove a grown black bear
into the front seat of his car
so he could take a picture of
j it sitting next to his wife.
I A horrified ranger spotted
j this stupidity and put a stop
to it before something hap
! pencd. The couple, lacking in
i knowledge of ursine ways,
i was highly indignant.
Human-like
Bears have a human - like
' quality which is highly decep
tive. They eat the same food
as man, and many a bear in
captivity has learned to guz
' zie beer and whisky, dance to
music, and perform tricks.
Actually, the bear is a neu
rotic with mcrcurical swings
of temperament and an anti
' social mien. He is more cun
i ning than most hunters and
likes nothing better than to'
! double back on his own long
track and pad silently along
parallel to a hunting party,
the bear tracking the track
ers. While big bears may look
Sid act friendly from afar,
there is almost nothing cuter
than a bear cub. They are
soft, cuddly, furry creatures
which love nothing more than
: to play and romp. They can
roll over like a dog, retrieve
a thrown ball or play fiead
I like a possum.
The teddy bear of yester
day quickly becomes a hun
dred - pound demanding ani
mal, however, who is friend
ly one moment and a snarling
wild creature the next.
"If thine enemy offends
thee, give him a bear cub," a
naturalist once remarked.
""e best place for bear
watching is from a distance.
also includes ascertaining the
magnetic and gravity prop
erties of the deep sea, the
physical, chemical and bio
logical characteristics of bot
tom sediments, and the me
teorology of the overlying
atmosphere.
The Navy is aided by the
Coast and Geodetic Survey
and the Bureau of Commer
cial fisheries in this effort.
A new Navy ship, designed
just for this purpose, is sched
uled to start operations next
year.
Today the only manned
vehicle for exploring the bot
tom is the Navy's Trieste
which has only a two-mile
horizontal range. The Navy
is considering building more
advanced vehicles for cruising
along the ocean floor at
depths ranging from 5,000 to
20,000 feet, which would take
care of 90 per cent of the bot
tom, and two other vehicles
capable of descending to 36,
000 feet for deep trench investigations.
Ocean surveys and bottom
mapping are crucial to 'the
Navy's expanding fleet of Po
laris submarines which today
cruise assigned stations at sea
as an effective deterrent to
Soviet aggression.
Speaking of the Polaris sub.
Rep. Daniel Flood (D-Pa.). a
member of the House subcom
mittee on defense appropria
tions, said in recent hearings:
"Here we have this fantastic
weapons system about which
we are all excited. We are
grinding them out like pan
cakes. Everybody tells us
they will protect the free
world from this and that, and
they are not worth very much
without oceanography."
Congressman Flood said the
Navy, with congressional
sanction, wants to place a
circle of Polaris subs around
the Communist-held land mass
within four years. Admiral
Stephan said the oceanogra
phy program is geared to
meet such a time-table.
Before each Polaris sub
takes its assigned station at
sea, the Navy makes an
ocean survey of the area.
Currently the Navy has 11
Polaris subs in the fleet of
28 atomic power subma
rines. The goal of 86 nu
clear subs by the end of the
decade is divided about
equally between Polaris
subs, which could fire at
inland targets thousands of
miles away, and attack subs,
used against foreign sub
marines. To clear their watery sta
tions far at sea, the Navy must
continue to step up its work
for deep sea secrets, locating
unknown sea mounts, chart
ing the courses of raging deep
sea rivers. This is the reason
for allocation of much of the
oceanography budget for de
fense purposes.
Of $2.3 billion budgeted diving.)
for the 1963-1972 oceanogra
phy effort, $835 million is for
the Navy. Not included in
either of these figures is an-"
other half billion for secret
activities related to the under
sea cold war with Russia.
But whether Congress will
a c t u a 1 ly appropriate this
much for oceanography in the
years ahead is somewhat
doubtful, judging by the beat
ing the oceanography program
has been receiving in Con
gress this summer at the
hands of the budget cutters.
(Next - Capitol Hill skin-
K!3
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