Antarctic Rogue Wave

(Dec 2 2022) It was reported by CNN that a “rogue wave” hit the Viking Cruise Line ship Polaris while in the Antarctic region sailing toward Ushuaia, Argentina. One passenger was killed and  4 injured. The ship also sustained some damage. The US National Ocean Service describes a rogue wave as one being greater than twice the size of the surrounding waves. If you’d like to read more about this phenomena, take a look at Rogue Waves.

The Hinterlands

There has always been ocean lore that proclaims rogue, monster waves rising 80, 90, or 100 feet high or more. Of course, these are not eye-witness accounts. Men in wooden ships don’t survive such an encounter. There was the story of the Alaskan Tlingit Indian woman who returned from berry picking to find her entire village disappeared. The debris field evidence on the shoreline indicated that the ocean had risen up and fell upon the village. The wave would have been more than 100 feet high to cause the damage. Experts of the day dismissed stories about such waves because they seemingly violated basic principles of ocean physics. Continue reading

Rogue Waves

There has always been ocean lore that proclaims rogue, monster waves rising 80, 90, or 100 feet high or more. Of course, these are not eye-witness accounts. Men in wooden ships don’t survive such an encounter. There was the story of the Alaskan Tlingit Indian woman who returned from berry picking to find her entire village disappeared. The debris field evidence on the shoreline indicated that the ocean had risen up and fell upon the village. The wave would have been more than 100 feet high to cause the damage. Experts of the day dismissed stories about such waves because they seemingly violated basic principles of ocean physics.

Continue reading