"Rogue Waves" Reported by Mariners get Scientific Backing

Agence Frence Press (through Yahoo) ^ | July 21, 2004

[1rudeboy]

Funny. Scientists are discovering what mariners have been reporting for centuries.

[keithtoo]

I suspect a Cheney/Halliburton connection to surface soon.

[BlueLancer]

According to the premise of Clive Cussler's book, CYCLOPS, this was the cause of the mysterious sinking of the Navy collier ...

[cpdiii]

I have experienced one in the North Sea. We were on a Semi-submersable drilling rig during a North Sea Storm. The Heli Deck is over a 100 feet above the water. A wave broke over it and swept in clean. That was about 1979 on a Sedco Rig, I forget the number of the rig. I will never forget the wave.

[Strategerist]

Funny. Scientists are discovering what mariners have been reporting for centuries.

Actually a good example of bad reporting, as I've followed the whole rogue wave thing for a while, and the idea that most marine scientists said they didn't exist is simply a load of BS; there have been studies and theories about them for a long time.

The thing about general-media science articles is they love to overplay the "scientists shocked" or "scientists change mind" thing to create a more dramatic story.

[Servant of the 9]

In 1995, the British cruise liner Queen Elizabeth II (news - web sites) encountered a 29-metre (94.25-feet) wall of water during a hurricane in the North Atlantic.

During WWII the QEI took a rogue wave on a troop run that rolled her to within 2* of her ultimate stability.
Solid water broke out all the bridge windows, 100 feet above the waterline.
She was making a fast unescorted transit (normal for fast liners), and if she had rolled at 30 knots, she would have driven under in a couple of seconds, and been assumed lost to a submarine.

So9

[r9etb]

Interesting. Here is a link to a story about a guy who's got a mathematical theory on rogue waves. It's a couple of years old, now....

[skeeter]

Wow. Did the wave actually break, pitch over like a breaking wave on the beach, or did it boil at the crest? I've always wondered, because normal waves have to 'feel bottom' before they can break.

[1rudeboy]

Yeah, I knew that . . . I presume most marine scientists go out on the water themselves.

[Lazamataz]

The thing about general-media science articles is they love to overplay the "scientists shocked" or "scientists change mind" thing to create a more dramatic story.

Scientists Shocked At Tendency Of Journalists To Exaggerate

[Doctor Stochastic]

Solitons have had a good mathematical backing for decades. (Even a journal.) I don't know if the rogue waves are solitions, but it wouldn't be surprising.

[Doctor Stochastic]

"Rogue Waves" Reported by Mariners get Observational Backing would be a more accurate title. The theory behind solitary waves is well known.

[D Rider]

Rouge waves are highly unstable. The appear and disappear quickly. They are a phenomenon of random wave addition. They can break, be directional, or even non-directional. Large rouge waves would carry a high degree of surface acceleration.

[dd5339]

I've seen "rogue" waves hit between sets of waves. Sometimes two waves would come together and double rather than nullifying each other, (mind you the ones I've seen have been small, generally less than 10').

I got picked up by one and dropped on a reef in Hawaii while scuba diving once, (about a 8-10' wave). It hurt when it happened and it hurt that night when I scrubbed all the abrasions with hydrogen peroxide. I tried to attenuate the pain of the scrubbing my consuming large quantities of Seagrams 7 and 7-Up. About halfway through I gave up on the 7-Up.

Semper Fi

[skeeter]

'Surface acceleration' I assume refers to water being drawn up into the wave as it builds...

[D Rider]

'Surface acceleration' I assume refers to water being drawn up into the wave as it builds...

Absolutely. Wave addition occurs when two or more wave crests occupy the same place at the same time. With a Rouge wave, this could mean many more than two waves. That's why they appear as monsters out of nowhere.

About wave addition: A few years ago a tsunami was heading for a south pacific island ,(I don't recall which one). Because the islanders had ample warning they moved to the far side of the island. The tsunami hit dead on, the wave split and wrapped around the island,(due to bottom conditions caused by the coral reef that surrounded the island), and doubled up on the backside of the island, killing most of the islanders as I recall.

[Junior]

I lost a shipmate to a rogue wave on Oct 31, 1989. A 30-foot (9 meter) wave washed over the aircraft elevator he was working on. We never did find his body, but two guys washed over with him were rescued.

[BushMeister]