The work of the Discovery Committee

• Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B - Biological Sciences
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 1950
• Subjects: Antarctic; Southern Ocean; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1950.0028; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.1950.0028

The geographical field in which most of the Discovery Committee’s work has been carried out during the past 25 years is the Southern Ocean. This zone of continuous deep water, very rich in marine life, supports one major industry—the whaling industry—but is otherwise little developed as yet, and seldom visited. It is not easy to find a short descriptive label for the work itself, but nearly all of it comes under the headings of deep-sea oceanography, whales and whaling, or Antarctic geography, and much of it is concerned with the interrelations of these subjects. Since the beginning in 1924 the Discovery Committee has worked under the Colonial Office, but in 1949 the Committee’s functions, together with the scientific staff, the ships, and other assets, were taken over by the Admiralty, and now form part of the new National Institute of Oceanography. The Discovery Committee, in its original form, has been dissolved, but it is encouraging to know that the continuation of its work is assured.