OCEAN EXPLORATION, THE NEXT FRONTIER At the National Ocean Conference in Monterey, California, President Clinton and Vice President Gore launched a series of major initiatives to explore, protect and restore America's vital ocean resources. One of these efforts is dedicated to exploring the ocean the "last U.S. frontier". To unravel deep-sea mysteries, discover new opportunities in the ocean, and better understand how to protect marine resources, the Administration is launching a program to map and explore U.S. ocean waters with advanced underwater technology. A proposed $12 million through 2002 will be used to expand two shallow-water observatories, build two new deep-sea observatories, and develop two high-tech "submersibles" to explore exotic sea life. Also, a new initiative will be launched in partnership with the National Geographic Society and Goldman Foundation to explore our National Marine Sanctuaries. For more information on this initiative contact Matt Stout (202) 482-6090. CALENDAR OF EVENTS September 19 - October 9 Coast Weeks October 13 - 16 APEC Ocean Conference, Honolulu, HI November 16 - 19, 1998 Ocean Community Conference '98 - Annual Meeting of the Marine Technology Society (MTS), Baltimore, Maryland

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