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I know that rogue waves are not caused by wind, as are other waves, but am unsure of which forum to ask this query of.
Recently, I saw a tv special about these rogue 'killer' waves.
They have clocked these things at 80 to 100 feet, though recently 3 people are reported to have died on a cruise ship that was hit with a 30 foot rogue wave.
These things had been chalked up to seaman's tall tales until equipment on an oil rig on the North Sea recorded one. It was initially thought that strong currents moving towards one another caused these things, but now the only 'explanation' is some quantum equation explaining random energy transference and build up from surrounding wave activity.
Many ships wiped out by these things just seem to disappear, that is, there is frequently no s.o.s. or communications of any kind. The ship is just there, and then, is no longer.
The program made two claims at different times, once saying that ships are destroyed by these things at the rate of one per month, and the other claiming that one per week is lost. The impression was left that these were merchant ships.
Does anyone know the correct stats on this?
Thank you.
Oh, I have also heard that beaches are sometimes hit by these things, as well. There was a report of a guy looking at the shore from a hotel window. He saw a solitary woman walking her dog there early in the morning. A huge wave came in and took her and the dog out to sea to be heard of no more.
Actually wind does play a factor, as well as currents, underocean topography and statistical chance. Normally the different wavelengths of ocean waves tend to cancel one another out; but occassionally the wavelengths "join" or amplify one another and a much larger wave forms. Like when you're at the beach and every couple of waves is larger than all the preceeding waves.
At least that's what I know about them...here are some links and additional informative videos. They are also MUCH more prevalent in a few parts of the Earth's oceans.
Thank you. That BBC presentation is almost identical to the one that I saw on tv, except that there was no mention of the loss of one ship per month, but just the two that cited one ship per week.
The pictorials were the same that I saw, but the voice over often called them 'killer' waves instead of freak waves.
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