Scientists Recorded the Most Extreme Rogue Wave Ever

Bright Side

Scientists recently recorded the craziest rogue wave ever—it was like a 10-story building rising out of nowhere in the middle of the ocean. These waves are rare and unpredictable, appearing suddenly and towering way above the surrounding sea. This particular wave was 58 feet high, about three times taller than the waves around it, and it’s now the most extreme one ever officially measured. Scientists study rogue waves because they’re incredibly dangerous for ships and oil rigs, often striking without warning. Thanks to better tech and data, researchers are getting closer to understanding how these monster waves form. The ultimate goal? Find ways to predict them and keep people safer at sea.  Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

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00:00A 4-story wall of water that only rises once in 1,300 years was recorded off the west coast

00:07of Canada.

00:09Some people blame waves like this for disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle.

00:13Rogue waves can get strong enough to sink container ships and oil rigs.

00:17The Canadian water monster didn't hurt anyone, but it did become a sensation.

00:22And it looks like we're about to see even higher and more powerful rogue waves in the

00:26future.

00:28The team of Marine Labs, the company that operates the buoy that got caught in the Euclid

00:33wave, couldn't believe the data they saw.

00:36A huge force came out of the blue, pulled the buoy down, and then set it up to a peak

00:41before taking it even deeper.

00:44They thought it must be a rogue wave, so they sent the data to a scientist at the University

00:48of Victoria who specializes in these beauties.

00:51They analyzed the data and confirmed it was, indeed, not a technical mistake.

00:56The wave officially became the most extreme rogue wave ever officially recorded as it

01:02was three times the height of waves around it.

01:05Scientists have reported seeing giant waves coming out of the blue for centuries, but

01:09no one really believed them.

01:10Back in 1826, a French scientist and naval officer was crossing the Indian Ocean on his

01:16ship the Astrolabe.

01:18They got in a terrible storm and saw several waves over 98 feet tall.

01:22It's almost as tall as a 10-story building.

01:25The crew lost one of its members, but the four of them, including the captain, made

01:29it to land and shared what they saw.

01:32But back then, scientists were sure waves couldn't be taller than 30 feet.

01:37Everyone took their story as a tall tale.

01:39Pun intentional.

01:40Over a century later, a cargo ship, the MS Munchen, mysteriously disappeared.

01:46People believed it to be unsinkable, just like the Titanic, so it was a real shock that

01:51all that was left of it was one lifeboat.

01:55When experts analyzed the damage, they concluded that it must've been hit by a wave that

02:00was around 65 feet high.

02:04Witnesses shared many other stories of giant waves coming out of nowhere, but scientists

02:09officially recognized the first rogue wave only in 1995.

02:14They went down in history as the Doppner wave, or the New Year's wave.

02:18This monster on the North Sea that was 84 feet tall hit the Norwegian gas platform Doppner

02:24on New Year's Day.

02:26It was twice larger than the waves surrounding it.

02:29The rig was built to withstand waves up to 64 feet tall and had the most advanced sensors

02:33for its time.

02:35The wave wasn't like any other type of wave they'd studied before.

02:40So they had to admit rogue waves were real and gave them an official definition.

02:45It's a wave more than twice as tall as others around it.

02:48They can pop up lightning fast in a stormy sea, or show up out of nowhere in calm waters.

02:54These waves have steep sides and a deep trough below, and look like a wall of water rising

03:00out of the sea.

03:01They're so intense that they can even swallow up rescue helicopters trying to do their job.

03:07In 2007, America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made a list of

03:1350 historical maritime tragedies that were most likely caused by rogue waves.

03:18Some of the events on the list happened not in the open water, but in lakes.

03:23Lake Superior has something that's got the name Three Sisters.

03:26It is a series of three large waves, one after another.

03:30The second wave covers the ship's decks before the first one is gone.

03:34The third wave jumps in and adds extra water.

03:38These three sisters overload the ship.

03:40There's a theory that this phenomenon took down the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975.

03:47There are two main theories trying to explain how rogue waves happen.

03:52First, we've got the linear addition theory.

03:55Imagine waves cruising through the ocean at their own speeds.

03:58When these waves cross paths, they team up and become stronger to turn into a rogue wave.

04:04Then there's the nonlinear focusing theory.

04:07It says waves like to roll in groups, and when they spend time together, they exchange

04:12some energy.

04:13Sometimes, this energy exchange turns into a rogue wave.

04:17To predict the formation of these freaky waves, scientists would need an innovative

04:22radar system to keep a constant eye on the waves near a boat.

04:26They'd collect all the data and put in a math model that would create a real-time picture

04:30of what the ocean's surface looks like at that very moment.

04:34This model would need to do new calculations of the surface situation every 5 minutes.

04:39It would let the crew know if there were any extreme waves coming up in the next several

04:43minutes.

04:44This data system doesn't exist yet, but there is a huge progress in this direction.

04:50Scientists from the University of Melbourne went on an expedition to Antarctica and found

04:55out that strong winds play a big role in the creation of rogue waves.

04:59It looks like they're caused by a mix of strong winds and the random way waves move

05:04and interact with each other.

05:06This idea was tested in labs before, but now they've proven it happens in real oceans

05:11too.

05:12To study these waves, the scientists used special 3D cameras.

05:16These cameras work like human eyes, taking lots of images in a row to create a detailed

05:213D picture of the ocean's surface.

05:24It showed that rogue waves happen more often when waves are young, which means they're

05:29just starting to form and are more affected by the wind.

05:32When strong winds blow over young waves, they make the waves taller, longer, and faster,

05:38but not evenly.

05:39Some waves steal energy from nearby waves and grow much bigger, which is how rogue waves

05:45form.

05:46The scientists noticed these giant waves happened about once every six hours.

05:50They recorded no rogue waves in calmer seas, when the wind doesn't have as much influence.

05:57Scientists are concerned that rogue waves may happen more often in the future, because

06:01there's more energy in the atmosphere and ocean.

06:04It looks like rogue waves can be much more powerful than scientists ever thought.

06:09They managed to create the famous Dopner wave in a lab for the first time in 2018.

06:14This helped them study these mysterious waves up close and showed that their secret is in

06:19how they form.

06:20We think of waves rolling gently on a beach, but the waves in this study happen in open

06:25water when waves from different directions meet.

06:28When waves come together from far apart directions, they push the water upward, creating what's

06:34called a partially standing wave or a cross wave.

06:38This can happen when two seas meet, or when wind directions suddenly change, like during

06:43a hurricane.

06:44The study found that the bigger the angle between the meeting waves, the taller the

06:48cross wave becomes.

06:50Normally, when a wave breaks, it forms a white foamy top, and that's where it stops growing.

06:56But if a wave is formed by water coming from many directions, it can keep growing even

07:01after breaking.

07:03These special waves can grow to be twice as steep while breaking, which is already much

07:07bigger than normal waves.

07:09And if you add up all the growth from waves coming together, they can become 4 times steeper

07:15than what anyone thought was possible.

07:17This discovery could change the way we build things, like wind turbines or oil platforms

07:22in the ocean to make them safe.

07:25Right now, many designs don't fully account for these huge multi-directional waves.

07:31They seem to have a lot of similarities, but rogue waves aren't the same as tsunamis.

07:36Tsunamis happen when there's a big shift in water, like an earthquake, volcanic eruption,

07:41or landslide.

07:42They mess with the entire water column.

07:45At sea, you might not even notice a tsunami cruising beneath you.

07:49But near the shore, as it hits shallow waters, those waves can shoot up to crazy heights.

07:55Rogue waves are formed at the surface level.

07:57Although sometimes, they can form deep below, and these are called rogue internal waves.

08:03That's it for today!

08:04If you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

08:09Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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