Yesterday I learned of a data visualization tool known as the Muir Web. (I found the most coherent explanation on the Manahatta Project website). I am not sure how I can use this as a tool, but it certainly speaks to issues of interconnectivity and how the ocean is part of a living dynamic system.
According to my professors Iain Kerr and Petia Morozov from Spurse, these webs need to be heterogeneous, nested, multi-scaled, emergent and multi-modal.