Refer to the Marine Mammal Science (Apr. 2010) study of whales entangled in fishing gear, Exercise 12.17 (p. 670). Recall that the length (y) of an entangled whale (in meters) was modeled as a function of water depth of the entanglement (x1, in meters) and distance of the entanglement from land (x2, in miles).
a. Give the equation of an interaction model for length (y) as a function of the two independent variables.
b. The researchers theorize that the length of an entangled whale will increase linearly as the water depth increases. In terms of the parameters in the model, part a, write the slope of the line relating length (y) to water depth (x1) for a distance of x2 = 10 miles from land.
c. Repeat part b for a distance of x2 = 25 miles from land.