The headline sounds as if we are talking about another anti-scientific research, which the yellow newspapers love to operate with. A man from Mars, pyramids built by aliens, killer waves - it would seem that it is a completely logical series. In fact, this is a truly scientific term that means incredibly huge waves wandering over the ocean that are capable of absorbing almost any ship. Unlike a completely predictable tsunami or storm, a wandering wave appears completely suddenly, growing in the way of a giant shaft, ready to absorb all life in its path.
As you know, fear has large eyes. Therefore, for a long time the existence of killer waves was considered a marine tale and even a myth. But that was exactly until someone from the crew of the ship, in the way of which another wave stood, filmed this monster on video.
Interestingly, the amplitude of the waves, almost does not depend on the size of the reservoir and the weather. We have put together everything that we currently know about a phenomenon that all sailors who go out into the open ocean fear.
What it is
A giant single wave, completely unpredictably appearing in the vastness of the ocean, has long been considered an idle invention of light on the frightening stories of sailors. It was only in the last century that scientists actually received documented evidence of the existence of this phenomenon. The killer wave can reach up to 30 meters - this is, for a minute, the height of a fourteen-story building.
The strangest thing is that they appear almost suddenly - researchers still have not been able to compile any, even an approximate, algorithm for their appearance. Consequently, almost every ship that leaves the open sea is in danger of being "attacked" by such a giant monster.
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Causes of occurrence
No one has completely figured out the exact reasons for this dangerous phenomenon. Rather, there are so many factors that may well contribute to the formation of a rogue wave that it is simply impossible to bring them to a common denominator. For example, ordinary waves can move towards the current that slows them down at one point, unite and turn into one giant wave. This is also facilitated by shallow water, where waves interact with each other, the bottom and the current at the same time. Therefore, it becomes impossible to timely predict the appearance of a rogue wave, which means that it is not realistic to defend against them in advance.
Dropner Wave
For a very long time, giant wandering killer waves were considered an idle fiction. And this is perfectly understandable - just read the title again! In addition, the existing mathematical model of the appearance of sea waves simply did not allow the existence of a suddenly emerging wall of water more than twenty meters high. But on January 1, 1995, mathematicians had to develop the analytical system anew: the wave that appeared at the oil platform "Dropner" exceeded 25 meters. The myth turned out to be true, and the sailors for a long time did not know whether to rejoice in the confirmed bike, or to begin to be afraid of already quite real killer waves.
Research project
The appearance of the Dropner wave initiated the development of a new research project aimed at studying the phenomenon. Scientists of the MaxWave project began using radar satellites to monitor the entire surface of the world's oceans. In less than a month, the researchers discovered a dozen waves exceeding 25 meters. The death of massive ships such as container ships and supertankers.
Death catalog
Another big headline, and again - completely justified. The so-called "Catalog of killer waves" was compiled by the famous oceanologist Irina Didenkulova. She decided to collect absolutely all available information, not only from official sources, but also from navigation sites, media data and even videos on YouTube. As a result, a very even and competent statistical picture of the emergence of these terrible waves was obtained. Not all scientists are ready to consider the "catalog of death" as a serious scientific study, however, the data presented here really allow us to bring the phenomenon to a common denominator.
Assassin sisters
Oceanologists were convinced that giant killer waves could only occur in the oceans. Until the date of the death of the cargo ship "Edmund Fitzgerald" on Lake Superior, USA, was confirmed. As it turned out, on this lake, local residents have been observing an amazing phenomenon for many years: several times a year, the surface of the water gives rise to three huge waves following each other, each about 25 meters high. They were named "Three Sisters".
Major disasters
Untimely recording of the terrible and extremely unusual phenomenon of killer waves led to the fact that the loss and death of many ships remained unsolved. But now, when the fundamental existence of such a phenomenon has been scientifically proven, researchers can make a list of the most terrible disasters that occurred through their fault. In the last decade, there have been several dangerous collisions with killer waves: the Norwegian Zarya liner met three 24-meter waves at once, but remained afloat. In 2001, two ships (the Bremen liner and the research vessel "Star of Caledonia") were less fortunate: several crew members disappeared from both ships.