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Angels of the deep sea
Angels of the Deep Sea A conference on ma.rme poUution and its effects on Living resources and ftshmng, organ~ed by the Food and Age,culture Organu,ation of the United Nallons, was held m Rome last month. Once more, participants expressed their ~ave [eats about the extent of pollution ol the marine environment and about the msu([icient expert knowledge and understanchng of the consequences o[ poUutton. Foremost was theu concern about Ih¢ effects of dumping persistent lethal wa.sles m the deep sea. The wisdom ol the United States nav.'y m dumping nerve gas contai.n~'s in the AdantJc early lasl %,'eat came under fresh so'uu.ny: an American sc-[ent~|, Roland Smith, who had been revolved m the dumping said that he had agreed to it wroth considerable reluctance but that since it was unstable mateTial there was no other way to dispose of ~/.. The material, he said, would dissolve very rapidly in salt wal,eT and become harmless aster about half an hoot; the three mJJ.e depth would make the process even less dangerous. He chd not Lnow whether the containers had been designed to leak slowly, as suggested by Mr A. G. Bourne of Britain, but there was no evidence el ill effects on marine hJ'e near the ~utI.Jed ship. He added that the containers would ¢-~en|ually let the gas seep out to be diluted harmlessly when the metal becomes corroded. A presidential commission had recommended leg=slaLion to lorbld the dumping o1" any 'pets=lent matet~al' Ln the ocean. Mr Sm=th believed that it would be passed early Ih~ y~ur. Dv Saul Saila, assistant secretary of the Inter governmental Oceanographic Commi=ton, reiterated one of
the more radical soUuuons to the problem of deep sea duanpmg that has arisen recently from the interest in tectonic sines, trenches where the slowly expanding ocean floor colhdes with the conlanentad masses. These areas of seismic acrlv~ W could be used as dumping grounds, burying lethal wastes deeply beneath the ocean floor (see Mm'in,, Pollution Bulletin I, 162, 1970). Dr Sa,La suggested that the conference should draft a resoluuon calling for ml,er. governmental action to establish one or more catelully monitored and regulated dispersal sites m these areas. He believed that more attention should be given to the problems or persistent ma.nne poUutants since iI seemed t.hat tails aspect rather than the c[bpersal el highly Ioxlc bul short.hved ponuLanU m the ocean should be of the greatesl ecological concern. A special report was submitted to the coni'ercnce by a group of t o n y lea&ng specialists from twelve different
countries. Emphasrsmg again the need for more complete mJ'ormation, the group recommended the early in,t~auon of am ocean survey to measure pollutants, especJally mercury and lead, 'two of the mosl Lh.reatcning pollutants'. A world momtonng network shouJd then be estabhshed, based on exJsdng naUonal and regional systems. The systems would comprise permanendy based s-tarlons in both ocean and coastal areas, including major f~sheries, to detect changes m the manne envb'onment and the enu'y and course of pollutauts. Space sateLlites could be used Io record 'red tides' (abnormaJ massive ~,.,'rowths of certain phytoplankton spec.,es), thermal pollunon and oil patches on the sea suHace.
FORTHCOMING
The 'Manne Pollution BulleLm' appears monlhh arid Lncludes news Hems, q.ommenl, shorl articles, r~.v~ew,, and conl'erence reports on matlers relating Lo the pollutmon el" estuaries, the .sea and other large boche~ ul water, ,nlerpreled [n the bruadesl sense It ~s only partl'~, ,oncemed wroth the (leleler,.,u.,, ellects el effluent chsposal and Ihe release uI noxious malerlals, ,old embraces also the management c~l the marine envu'orunerll, ItS capacl~' l~ absorb waste malerlals, r,arural popula|lon rluc tualluns m marine organisms, and marine pruducHvlly generalh' II publi.~hes accounts c)l new or proposed researc.h prog'tarnme.s a.s well as Ihe re.stills of t.hose thai have been In progme~,, Inr some time. ConllJbullons ma~,' be m the it)reel uf shorl noles not ex(eechng 650 wurds ur arl,lcles ul 1501),'21JOt) words and should be s-ubmllted to the echlor m double.spaced I~pescrIpl,. They should be L.,,rven a shorl, one line IHle and Ihe text should be [~ruken I-~ short sub.heachngs. All measurements must L'w gh'en m melrlc (S.l.) unils. Black, un while hne drawings and pholo~aphs should bc ol guud quahly and Ihe ~rdI.J= el a single column (8.5 cm) nr dc)uble ro[umn (I 7.5 cml and nol more than I J, cm deep. Maps ate normally re-d.raw'n Io a standard lurmal and should therelure be cleat and relatfveiv simple, aw~JdJng undue free detail. They should be 8.5 cm . r 17.5 c'm wide and not more than 14 cam deep. Repnnl~ of articles can be suppbed alter pubh cat,on and an order Iorm {or them is senl t,, conu',bulors wlLh the issue m which Ihezr arl,cle appears Bulk orders of copies o1' the enltre issue in wh,:h an article appears can be .supplied at a reduced rate to the audtor, provicLi,ng they are ordered in advance of pubhcal,on. Cunla'lbutors wmshung Io lake advantage el the lalter scheme must reform the editor when submitting their manuscript.
Published by'
Macmillan (Journals) L=rmted, L=ltle Essex Slreet, London, W.C 2, England. EdJlor: Prolessor R. B. Clark, Department of Zoology, 'The UnnverslrT' , Newcastle upon 'Tyne, NEI 7RU, England. Subscriptions Io: Macmdlan (.Jou rnaJs) Lmm.iled, Subscriptions Department, Brun¢l Road, Basmngstok¢, Hants., England. Advert ,semen t T G. Scull & Sun, Lid., I Clement% enquJr~es to: Inn, London, W.C.2, EngLand. Annual subscrtpt ion £3.50,.~rl'reighl U.S.A. $10.5U Canada $1 I .5()
CONFERENCE
Remote Sensing of the Environment The Seventh [nternat.iunal Symposium on Re'mote ,Sensing of the Envatonment w'd] be held at the Unlvel~tty of M~cl'ugan from May ! 7 21. It will be de'voted to discussing Ib
MARINE POLLUTION B U L L E T I N
key problem areas, the momtonng and control ol ¢nvu'onmental qu',dltv and recent developments in sensor tecl'mology and data handling. A call toe papers has bee.n made, ['u.rlher Jrd'orrnauon is obtainable from th,e LxtensJon Service, Conlerence Department, L;mversltv of Michit,Tan, Ann Arbor, MIchig'an 48104; Area code 313, 7h.4 5'30,4.
the more radical soUuuons to the problem of deep sea duanpmg that has arisen recently from the interest in tectonic sines, trenches where the slowly expanding ocean floor colhdes with the conlanentad masses. These areas of seismic acrlv~ W could be used as dumping grounds, burying lethal wastes deeply beneath the ocean floor (see Mm'in,, Pollution Bulletin I, 162, 1970). Dr Sa,La suggested that the conference should draft a resoluuon calling for ml,er. governmental action to establish one or more catelully monitored and regulated dispersal sites m these areas. He believed that more attention should be given to the problems or persistent ma.nne poUutants since iI seemed t.hat tails aspect rather than the c[bpersal el highly Ioxlc bul short.hved ponuLanU m the ocean should be of the greatesl ecological concern. A special report was submitted to the coni'ercnce by a group of t o n y lea&ng specialists from twelve different
countries. Emphasrsmg again the need for more complete mJ'ormation, the group recommended the early in,t~auon of am ocean survey to measure pollutants, especJally mercury and lead, 'two of the mosl Lh.reatcning pollutants'. A world momtonng network shouJd then be estabhshed, based on exJsdng naUonal and regional systems. The systems would comprise permanendy based s-tarlons in both ocean and coastal areas, including major f~sheries, to detect changes m the manne envb'onment and the enu'y and course of pollutauts. Space sateLlites could be used Io record 'red tides' (abnormaJ massive ~,.,'rowths of certain phytoplankton spec.,es), thermal pollunon and oil patches on the sea suHace.
FORTHCOMING
The 'Manne Pollution BulleLm' appears monlhh arid Lncludes news Hems, q.ommenl, shorl articles, r~.v~ew,, and conl'erence reports on matlers relating Lo the pollutmon el" estuaries, the .sea and other large boche~ ul water, ,nlerpreled [n the bruadesl sense It ~s only partl'~, ,oncemed wroth the (leleler,.,u.,, ellects el effluent chsposal and Ihe release uI noxious malerlals, ,old embraces also the management c~l the marine envu'orunerll, ItS capacl~' l~ absorb waste malerlals, r,arural popula|lon rluc tualluns m marine organisms, and marine pruducHvlly generalh' II publi.~hes accounts c)l new or proposed researc.h prog'tarnme.s a.s well as Ihe re.stills of t.hose thai have been In progme~,, Inr some time. ConllJbullons ma~,' be m the it)reel uf shorl noles not ex(eechng 650 wurds ur arl,lcles ul 1501),'21JOt) words and should be s-ubmllted to the echlor m double.spaced I~pescrIpl,. They should be L.,,rven a shorl, one line IHle and Ihe text should be [~ruken I-~ short sub.heachngs. All measurements must L'w gh'en m melrlc (S.l.) unils. Black, un while hne drawings and pholo~aphs should bc ol guud quahly and Ihe ~rdI.J= el a single column (8.5 cm) nr dc)uble ro[umn (I 7.5 cml and nol more than I J, cm deep. Maps ate normally re-d.raw'n Io a standard lurmal and should therelure be cleat and relatfveiv simple, aw~JdJng undue free detail. They should be 8.5 cm . r 17.5 c'm wide and not more than 14 cam deep. Repnnl~ of articles can be suppbed alter pubh cat,on and an order Iorm {or them is senl t,, conu',bulors wlLh the issue m which Ihezr arl,cle appears Bulk orders of copies o1' the enltre issue in wh,:h an article appears can be .supplied at a reduced rate to the audtor, provicLi,ng they are ordered in advance of pubhcal,on. Cunla'lbutors wmshung Io lake advantage el the lalter scheme must reform the editor when submitting their manuscript.
Published by'
Macmillan (Journals) L=rmted, L=ltle Essex Slreet, London, W.C 2, England. EdJlor: Prolessor R. B. Clark, Department of Zoology, 'The UnnverslrT' , Newcastle upon 'Tyne, NEI 7RU, England. Subscriptions Io: Macmdlan (.Jou rnaJs) Lmm.iled, Subscriptions Department, Brun¢l Road, Basmngstok¢, Hants., England. Advert ,semen t T G. Scull & Sun, Lid., I Clement% enquJr~es to: Inn, London, W.C.2, EngLand. Annual subscrtpt ion £3.50,.~rl'reighl U.S.A. $10.5U Canada $1 I .5()
CONFERENCE
Remote Sensing of the Environment The Seventh [nternat.iunal Symposium on Re'mote ,Sensing of the Envatonment w'd] be held at the Unlvel~tty of M~cl'ugan from May ! 7 21. It will be de'voted to discussing Ib
MARINE POLLUTION B U L L E T I N
key problem areas, the momtonng and control ol ¢nvu'onmental qu',dltv and recent developments in sensor tecl'mology and data handling. A call toe papers has bee.n made, ['u.rlher Jrd'orrnauon is obtainable from th,e LxtensJon Service, Conlerence Department, L;mversltv of Michit,Tan, Ann Arbor, MIchig'an 48104; Area code 313, 7h.4 5'30,4.