Waves Are Getting Bigger and We Don't Know Why

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Thoughty2 (Arran) is a British YouTuber and gatekeeper of useless facts. Thoughty2 creates mind-blowing factual videos about science, tech, history, opinion and just about everything else.
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Writing: Steven Rix
Editing: Giselle Hannah Santos

[justgonnagetbetter]

"but neither ship nor crew were ever seen again. I really love cooking-"
Me: my god, he ate them.

[ItsTheMunz]

I think I’d rather board a ship labelled “highly sinkable” than “unsinkable.” Murphy’s Law has not been kind to that label.

[ljay]

Everytime i get on a boat I’ll say “This is definitely sinkable”. That way Poseidon doesn’t get angry and doesn’t sink us

[morchel]

"Good sized badger" is my new favorite volumetric unit.

[neilbadger]

When you think that wave height around Antarctica could reach 40 feet in height during a storm, the thought of a super rogue wave hitting 200 feet just makes you appreciate the bravery of all those sea-going penguins in search of a quick snack.

[dereksmith]

Gotta love the engineers at the office telling the guys in the field something can’t happen.

[Aditya-qmrf]

First rule of survival...never call your vessel "unsinkable"

[spddiesel]

"Neither the ship nor the crew were ever seen again..."
*1 second later*
"I love to cook!"

[arthurpeters]

I'd imagine that the reason we haven't heard about the waves until recently is because any old ship would've been destroyed immediately.

[Shmuxl]

It’s funny how humans can tell nature what is supposed to be possible

[caltravels]

I have surfed most my life, every time i do, there is always at least one wave that comes in that is far bigger than all the rest, it is not that hard to understand that rogue waves exist.

[htejjke]

Experienced surfer here. Rogue waves do exist but I rarely close to shore... unless surfing in extremely stormy short period conditions. What I'm saying is most of rouge waves happen whilst in the middle of a storm. Although it can still happen at shore in these conditions: This includes A frame waves (waves intersecting at any angle), or a double up wave (one wave is traveling faster then another and they overlap creating a larger more powerful wave), or a combination of both. In conclusion, short period waves/storm waves are impossible to predict.

[maggie]

I’ve always been so interested in waves and oceans but they simply terrify me. Thanks for making me even more paranoid! Jk, the theme is soooo interesting keep it going!

[TheRealPots]

now I want everything to be measured in badgers 😂

[danieljones]

In 1988, I was a commercial fisherman on a small boat in the Gulf of Mexico.
Near the end of the summer, hurricane Gilbert was nearing the Yucatan Peninsula, and hurricane Florence was heading towards New Orleans.
We had waves coming out of the west and south-southwest.
We had a lot of 18 footers, and that old "square wave" thing was a problem.
We got hit by weird waves several times that day, and then got hit by a monster.
Never thought to call it a rogue wave, it was just big and bad.
Tossed us around like a cork.
Well, heck, when you're on a 53' at the waterline boat....
It slammed us and swamped us.
As we knew we were already in the sh!+, we were already on our toes.
I was on the deck, hauling gear (pulling up the fishing cable, same as the boat in Perfect Storm) so I had a commanding view of the ocean and the waves the were heading in our direction.
I saw what was coming and "sang out, " "EVERYBODY GRAB ON!!"
Just before that wave hit us, I had turned off the hydraulic spool, and had run to the forecastle (front), and didn't quite make it. I grabbed on the rail, and held on for dear life.
The wave had swamped us, and the deck was a mess. Equipment and fish EVERYWHERE.
The skipper was tossed around in the cabin, and the guy that was putting new bait on the leaders was tossed into the spool that I had just shut down.
It could have been worse. He was totally dazed, and we got him into the cabin, where the skipper went over him.
Me, all I could do was damage control, and get as much water off the deck as possible, because the fish and odd equipment was clogging the suppers (deck drains).
We obviously managed to survive and keep doing our job, or I wouldn't be here to tell you about it.
Were we scared?
No way.
We were as high as a kite on DANGER.

BTW, the guy that got tossed into the spool?
He was alright, but when the impact pattern appeared on his chest a bit later, we saw that had I not turned off the hydraulic winch, he probably would have been dragged into it.

[WayneBraack]

"At least now you'll know what's about to kill you. You're welcome" .. best line 42's ever delivered. My feelings for this mans channel has just become a rogue wave of love!

[MikeOchtman]

In the winter of 1994 a bulk carrier mv Apollo Sea was lost in a ferocious storm off the west coast of south africa. I was on a ship in the same storm 20 miles offshore where south africa and Namibia share a border. Winds sustained above 60 knots and sea state 10 went on for more than 24 hours.
The company I worked for was asked to use their ROV to investigate the suspected wreck site due to an oil spill. They found the wreck, the ship appeared intact as if it was still underway but her upper decks were smashed in as of a giant had hammered it. They believe she had hit a 'hole in the sea' or the depression ahead of a rogue wave which pitched her nose-down and the wave came down on the top-side pushing her instantly 20m below mean sea level and she went straight down.

[rogersurf]

What you haven't mentioned is that waves can easily become rogue when there is another weather systems fire waves at an angle at each other. Every surfer knows about this and I am surprised that this is not listed as common cause of rogue waves. When two or more waves from a number of weather systems clash, they easily multiply briefly as the cross other large waves at an angle.

[aurorawolfe]

man: this ship is unsinkable
mother nature: challenge accepted

[sharonsomers]

One of my favorite adventure movies, The Poseidon Adventure, the huge ship was rolled over by a rogue wave, creating chaos for the trapped passengers.