31 May 2026: Summer looms, though the recent weather in the northeast US might cause some confusion about how close the lovely warm weather we look forward to might be! In any case, here's a bit about the phenomenon called "rogue Waves" that some of you might have experienced - fortunately, I have not in spite of many years at sea in different parts of the world. From SupercarBlondie.
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Sea phenomenon was always believed to be a myth made up by sailors until satellites stunningly proved it to be true
For centuries, sailors told terrifying stories of a sea phenomenon: giant waves appearing out of nowhere, but before satellites stepped in, most scientists dismissed them as exaggerations or an outright myth.
These so-called ‘rogue waves’ sounded too weird to be real, often described as towering walls of water capable of swallowing entire ships.
But thanks to modern satellite technology in space, what was once folklore has now been proven beyond doubt.
And the truth behind these ocean giants is even more mind-blowing than the myths that came before.
Rogue waves were dismissed as myth until science finally caught up
Stories of rogue waves go back hundreds of years, with sailors reporting massive, unpredictable waves rising suddenly in otherwise normal seas.
For a long time, scientists believed ocean waves followed predictable patterns, meaning such extreme outliers simply shouldn’t exist.
That all changed in 1995, when a massive 80-foot wave struck the Draupner oil platform in the North Sea, becoming the first scientifically recorded rogue wave.
From that moment on, the narrative shifted, and what had once been dismissed as tall tales suddenly had hard data behind it, forcing researchers to rethink everything they knew about ocean behavior.
Then came a major breakthrough: satellites.
In the early 2000s, the European Space Agency began tracking ocean surfaces from space, and by 2024, the SWOT satellite had captured waves between 65 and 115 feet tall.
Even more surprising, these waves weren’t always tied to storms; they could appear hundreds or even thousands of miles away from extreme weather, making them far more mysterious and dangerous than anyone expected.
So, how do these ocean monsters come to life?
Scientists now believe rogue waves are created when multiple wave systems combine in just the right way.
One key process is called constructive interference, where waves traveling in different directions and speeds align perfectly, stacking on top of each other to form a single, massive wave.
Another factor involves natural ocean dynamics that stretch and amplify waves, making them steeper and taller while flattening the trough beneath them, and this effect can boost a wave’s height by up to 20 percent.
Researchers analyzing decades of ocean data have found these waves are not as rare as once thought, although they are still considered uncommon and highly unpredictable.
Despite their intimidating size, the chances of encountering one remain low.
But the fact that they exist at all, once written off as tall tales, is a powerful reminder of how much we still have to learn about the ocean.
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Hard to imagine encountering one of these monsters out on the deep - even in a large vessel, but I can not comprehend the feeling in even an ocean-going sailing yacht!
As a matter of interest (mostly to us here at MM) we are only a few readers away from 400,000 readers worldwide. Still difficult to wrap our brain around that!
Until next time, stay safe!
Fair Winds
Old Salt
