Question 10A Articles in the New York Times and "Time" magazine have suggested that fallout is a possible cause of the unexplained starfish plague which-is destroying coral reefs and islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, | _ and in the Red Sea. | Answer 10A The article in the September 12, 1969, issue of "Time" clearly was speculating about possible causes of the starfish infestation and inc luded radioactive fallout as one of several factors to be considered. -article appeared in the July 14, 1969, issue of "Newsweek." A similar Dr. Porter Kier, who is quoted in the "Newsweek" article, has recently returned from a month long trip to the Eniwetok atoll and has concluded that radiation damage is not causing the explosion in the starfish population, since no problem was detected in Eniwetok, which was the site of some of our bomb testsand was exposed to higher levels of radiation than many of the areas “where the infestation of the starfish is more serious. Dr. Richard Chesher writing in the July 18, 1969, issue of "Sedence" discusses the problem and suggests that destruction of reefs vy “blasting, dredging and other human activities has provided fresh surfaces, free of filter feeders, for settlement of the (starfish) larvae." He feels that the “resulting increased survival of the younger stages of starfish is the most likely explanation for this increases in the adult population. Question 108 Do you consider this conceivable? Answer 10B Dr. Kier, Smithsonian Institution, is convinced that radiation is not the