At the same time, the U.S.Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) undertook a search for a site for its East Coast Laboratory and base for Coast and Geodetic Survey ships. Georgia already had a marine ecology research station on Sapelo Island, but environmental concerns made it unsuitable. After study, GSTC proposed a site on Skidaway Island, near Savannah.

(At this point, we should alert readers that this may be a somewhat prejudiced recount of events, since the author was at that time Chairman of GSTC. Subsequently, as a member of the Georgia Senate and Chairman of the Committee on Scientific Research, the writer introduced the legislation which created Georgia's ocean science center on Skidaway.)

The ESSA lab went to Miami. However, the site competition generated strong interest in ocean science developments. It appeared that Georgia occupied an excellent location for creating a coastal facility which could serve as a nucleus for generating future economic development..

The bill authorizing the establishment of an oceanographic research center was passed by the Georgia legislature during the 1967-68 session, setting in motion a series of significant events. Most important, the Roebling family (Roebling Steel) gave to the State their Modena Plantation on Skidaway; other donors gave access routes; and local government, working with the State, committed to build a bridge needed for access.

The site thus produced was and is beautiful. Located only four miles from downtown Savannah, the 700 acre tract features a deep channel on the Wilmington River, leading to the open Atlantic 6 miles downstream.

The Skidaway facility was handed over to the university system, which launched a program of academic and environmental studies. A small research program soon got underway.

Early efforts were directed toward learning more about the ocean currents along the Georgia coast, the adjoining Blake Plateau, and the barrier islands which extend from the Carolinas to Florida. Subsequently, there was significant work in the area of fish farming, the potential for production of seaweed by-products and the development of the sea clam.

Today Skidaway is a substantial research center valued at $10 to $20 million. The future offers many opportunities.

• Fisheries. Cultivation of fish crops is, of course, a centuries-old concept. However, it appears safe to say that never has this activity been so essential.

• Energy. Another group of industrial opportunities are based on using the energy content of sea water. These range from Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) to various methods of capturing power from the ocean's tidal surges or wave actions.

• Desalting sea water.. This is an important area. A breakthrough would permit reclamation of huge desert areas around the world.

• Salt water agriculture. Still another field of promising research is a combination of agriculture and aquaculture. This is the development of plant species which can flourish in a salt water environment.

• Use of ocean sites.As population grows and land becomes scarcer, there is increasing interest in using sites above, on, and below the oceans.

• Underwater tourism. Of special interest is a fast-emerging interest in underwater tourism. Diving is already a major economic development factor and there are numerous other opportunities.

As evidence that Skidaway is beginning to attract international attention, a Thai firm recently planned to locate a major shrimp research operation at the site.