Monster Waves

Monster waves have been on the rise

By Tony Chamberlain, Globe Staff | June 30, 2006

Call anything rogue or monster and it immediately assumes a thrilling unreality found in science-fiction and horror tales. And yet, as we roll into summer and another hurricane season, the talk of rogue and monster ocean waves has been gaining, with scientific researchers in England and Germany recently publishing evidence that these waves might be much larger and more frequent than previously thought.

Technically, a rogue wave occurs when strong wind charges the ocean with its energy. And some rogues seem to derive energy from the depths of the ocean. Inshore boaters would seem immune from such nightmarish conditions.

"At 0410 the rogue wave was sighted right ahead, looming out of the darkness from 220 [degrees]. It looked as though the ship was heading straight for the White Cliffs of Dover. The wave seemed to take ages to arrive but it was probably less than a minute before it broke with tremendous force over the bow. An incredible shudder went through the ship, followed a few minutes later by two smaller shudders. There seemed to be two waves in succession as the ship fell into the `hole' behind the first one. The second wave of 28-29 meters [95 feet] whilst breaking, crashed over the foredeck, carrying away the forward whistle mast."

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