§ Empirical models are only as good as the data
that goes into them…
§ Marine models are only good for the time and
conditions used to build the models…
§  So what’s the point?
§  They allow us to map out relationships we observe in our
data and test them objectively
§  They allow us to define stronger hypotheses
§  They allow us to develop better sampling strategies and
monitoring plans
§  They allow us to map potential spatial interactions