Chapter 1 Research at Enewetak Atoll: A Historical Perspective rep HELFRICH® and ROGER RAYT iuie of Marine Biology. University of _a.. Maneoke. Hawaii 96744: ‘ida Operations Office. U. S. Department of i nergy. Las Vegas, Nevada 89114: current address is 10252 Hatherleigh Dr.. Bethesda. Njurvland 20814 INTRODUCTION“cite theater of operations in World War Il “me .cnions. of military personnel to the tropical and their activities on the Pacific Islands afforded contact and awareness of the physiography and “atural history of these small dots of land scattered in the -est expanse of ocean. This enhanced awareness, coupled aith a recognized need by the military establishment for increased knowledge of Pacific Island areas, led to sv ernment-sponsored investigations, ‘complemented by “rs of many individual scientists whose interest had “ated by wartime visits to these islands. In the period. two activities of the U. S. government .-::3 further interest on the coral atoll of the tropical “acie and influenced the future of research at Enewetak Atoli (Figs. 1 and 2}. The origin of the spelling “Eniwetok” “8 lost but would appear to be a phonetic rendering of wha: the people called their atoll. In 1973 it gave way to the current spelling, consistent with written Marshallese. én meaning “island which points to the east.” ‘“srld War Il demonstrated the importance of these cattered land masses to any military confrontation “acific basin. After the war, the U. S. Navy moved ‘» c2velop a series of permanent bases from among the Mer, temporary wartime bases and outposts which had beer, established across the Pacific. With the prominent ro of the Navy in developing and maintaining these Deszs. if is not surprising that the Navy's research arm, the Office of Naval Research (ONR), inaugurated a scien: "ac Drogram in the late 1940s aimed at a better under "7g of atoll morphology and of al! aspects of island ‘A omicroorganisms to human inhabitants. The ONR : a series of expeditions in conjunction with the +. °¢ Science Association. many of which were to atolls S002415 in the central and western tropical Pacific. Arno Atoll in the southern Marshall Islands and Onotoa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati} were subjects of intensive investigation in 1950 and 1953, respectively. Scientists . involved in these atoll studies contributed to the establishment of the Eniwetok Marine Biological Laboratory (EMBL) on Medren Island, Enewetak Atoll, in 1954. The second postwar activity which served to focus attention on the mid-Pacific area was the atomic weapons testing program in the northern Marshall Islands. Two atomic weapons hadinflicted mortal damage upon Japan and had brought a precipitous end to the war in the Pacific. Military planners and strategists knew very little about this new and awesomestrategic resource. Thus, an area was sought which might accommodate full-scale testing of atomic weapons. Neil Hines (1962) in his book Proving Ground describes the process of choosing the northern Marshall Islands as the testing site. First Bikini Atoll and then Enewetak Atoll became test sites, to be known together as the Pacific Proving Ground. National security considerations soon led to research and develop ment testing and, with the impetus of the cold war, to the testing of thermonuclear weapons in these islands. In all, between 1946 and 1958, 43 nuclear devices were tested at Enewetak and 23 on Bikini—events which were to have profound and lasting environmental. social, and cultural -eHects upon these two atolls as well as others nearby. The. nuclear testing program provided a setting, a focus of interest, and an opportunity for research in the northern Marshail Islands which eventually led to the establishment of the EMBL. THE WEAPONS TESTING PROGRAM Soon after the 1946 tests at Bikini (Operation Crossroads}, which had been designed to assess the mili- — tary significance of atomic weapons. the United States Congress created the Atomic Energy, Commission (AEC), a civilian agency charged with responsibility for the research, development. testing, and production of nuclear weapons. This new agency was to become host and manager of the Pacific Proving Ground and, later.“sponsor of EMBL. Operation Crossroads was largely a seaborne opera: . non, with logistic support from: the maval base at tee