Eric Hamilton was the first editor of Baseline, presenting his vision for the section in an editorial (Hamilton, 1982) which see more makes fascinating reading from a modern perspective 30 years on. Eric saw Baseline’s content as being “designed to be acceptable for computer storage”, a thought probably ahead of its time, especially given that papers in those days were largely all typewritten, and submitted by snail mail. The articles were to “consist of bare data together with accompanying text” and it was suggested that suitable media of interest for the reports would consist

of waters, sediments and biota. Data quality was emphasized, although it was acknowledged that “some may be inaccurate but associated with high precision, and can therefore be useful when studying changes in concentration

Belnacasan supplier of a substance in time and space”. How times have changed in such a relatively short period. Those initial Baseline papers were truly “bare bones” affairs. The first two, published in the July 1982 issue (Seeliger and Knak, 1982 and Witkowski and Frazier, 1982) consisted of texts barely over 350 words. Each article included one table. Diagrams and references were at an absolute minimum, as were details of analytical methodology and quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC). Sample numbers were also minimal – just 5 in Seeliger and Knak’s (1982) paper on estuarine metal monitoring in southern Brazil, and 3 bone and one barnacle sample in Witkowski and Frazier’s (1982) report on heavy metals in sea turtles. Statistical analyses seemed to be unheard of. Eric Hamilton’s main thrust for these short Baseline reports was summarized BCKDHB towards the end of his editorial, where he stated: “Many national organizations acknowledge a need for baseline data but, at present, systems do not exist whereby the quality of accepted data can be evaluated; hence, the value of any data retrieved

from such data files is limited as it depends upon the quality of the inputs. Eventually it will be instructive to compare data accumulated in data files to determine whether or not acceptance of high quality data differs from that which has not been subject to some scrutiny; if no significant differences are observed, then the abbreviated approach to be used in this journal will have confirmed the validity of accepted practice, but at the same time will have reduced the mass of paper that scientists have to wade through in order to retrieve concise statements for the concentration and distribution of elements and compounds in the marine environment” (Hamilton, 1982). I do believe that time and tide has shown these fine sentiments to be sadly misplaced. Eric continued as the Baseline editor until March 1992, when he was succeeded by Dave Phillips.