The study of the ocean is almost as old as the history of mankind itself. When the first seafarers set out in their primitive ships they had to understand, as best they could, tides and currents, eddies and vortices, for lack of understanding often led to loss of live. These primitive oceanographers were, of course, primarily statisticians. They collected what empirical data they could, and passed it down, ini­ tially by word of mouth, to their descendants. Data collection continued throughout the millenia, and although data bases became larger, more re­ liable, and better codified, it was not really until surprisingly recently that mankind began to