What Makes A Wave Go Rogue? - Britannica

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What Makes a Wave Go Rogue? What causes one of the ocean’s most dreaded phenomena? Ask Anything Written by Kara Rogers Kara Rogers is the senior editor of biomedical sciences at Encyclopædia Britannica, where she oversees a range of content from medicine and genetics to microorganisms. She joined Britannica in 2006 and... Kara Rogers Fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Britannica AI Ask Anything Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything

Many a tall tale has been inspired by the world’s oceans, from stories of mysterious sea monsters to legends about ghost ships like the Flying Dutchman. While all are capable of inducing “ocean aversion” in even the most intrepid terrestrial explorer, no maritime legend strikes fear into the seafarer quite like that of the rogue wave, perhaps because this fabled wall of water is no longer limited to folklore. It has become an accepted scientific phenomenon.

Also known as freak waves, killer waves, monster waves, or, more technically, extreme storm waves, these surging swells are defined by their unusual height—sometimes reaching as high as 30 meters (nearly 100 feet)—and by their unpredictable nature, typically emerging from a direction unforeseen based on prevailing wind and wave direction. In technical terms, an extreme storm wave has a height that is at least 2.2 times the significant wave height (the average of the highest third of waves, measured from trough to crest). Several mechanisms are known to cause rogue waves, including constructive interference, in which small fast waves catch up with slow waves, resulting in the momentary coalescing of oscillations into an unusually large wave. While gale force winds may also play a role, rogue waves can form on relatively calm seas.

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Rogue waves have long been reported by sailors, but just how frequently these extreme events occur remains a mystery. Analysis of satellite imagery has suggested that they occur more often than expected, lending support to historical accounts of ships being struck and sunk by enormous waves. Rogue waves have been implicated in the disappearance of numerous ships, including the SS Waratah (Australia’s Titanic), which vanished en route to Cape Town in 1909, and the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank in Lake Superior in 1975.

Kara Rogers