In November 2020, a freak wave came out of nowhere and lifted a lone buoy 17.6 meters (58 feet) high off the coast of British Columbia.
The four-story wall of water was finally confirmed in February 2022 as the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded at the time.
It is believed that such an exceptional event only occurs once every 1,300 years. And if we hadn’t been on the buoy, we might not have even known it happened.
For centuries, rogue waves regarded as mere nautical folklore. It wasn’t until 1995 that the myth became fact. On the first day of the new year, waves about 26 meters (85 feet) high suddenly hit an oil drilling platform about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of Norway.
At the time, the so-called Draupner waves overturned all previous models that scientists had put together.
Since then, dozens More rogue waves are being recorded (There’s also one in the lake.) And while the waves that surfaced near Ucluelet on Vancouver Island weren’t the tallest, their relative size compared to surrounding waves was unprecedented.
Scientists define rogue waves as waves that are more than twice the height of surrounding waves. For example, the height of the Draupner wave was 25.6 meters, while nearby waves were only 12 meters high.
By comparison, Ucluelet’s wave was almost three times as large as the other waves.
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“Proportionally, Ucluelet waves are probably the most extreme rogue waves ever recorded.” explained Johannes Gemrich, physicist at the University of Victoria, 2022.
“Only a few storm surges have been directly observed on the high seas, but none of this magnitude.”
Researchers are still trying to understand how rogue waves form so that they can better predict when they will occur. This includes measuring rogue waves in real time and running models of how they are fanned by the wind.
The buoy that picked up the Ucluelet waves was placed offshore along with dozens of other buoys by a research institute called Marine Lab to learn more about the dangers of the deep sea.
Even if extreme waves occur far offshore, they can destroy offshore operations, wind farms, and oil rigs. If they are large enough, they can even endanger the lives of beachgoers.
Fortunately, neither Ucluelet nor Draupner caused any serious damage or loss of life, but other rogue waves occurred.
For example, some ships that went missing in the 1970s; It is now believed to have sunk by a sudden wave. The floating debris left behind looks like a giant white hat figurine.
Unfortunately, in 2020 study Projected wave heights in the North Pacific are expected to increase with climate change, meaning Ucluelet waves may not maintain records for as long as current projections suggest. suggests.
“We aim to improve safety and decision-making for maritime navigation and coastal communities through extensive measurements of the world’s coastlines.” Said Scott Beatty, CEO of MarineLabs.
“Capturing this once-in-a-millennium wave in our backyard is a thrilling demonstration of the power of coastal intelligence to transform ocean safety.”
This study scientific report.
A previous version of this article was published in February 2022.