It is one of the most mysterious marine phenomena in the world and one of the most dangerous: theabnormal wave on the open sea, he can literally overwhelm huge ships and drag them into the depths of the abyss. For a long time they were believed to be the product of sailors’ imaginations, but with the passage of time (and the refinement of the technological tools available to science) their destructive power has been confirmed.
Already we can (so far) say what the anomalous wave is. highest ever: It took two years of study and lots and lots of research to identify it, but it would have peaked in November 2020 in the Pacific Ocean, right in the waters off Ucluelet, British Columbia.
The Strange Signals in the Pacific
So it was 2020 and the world was still grappling with the pandemic when oceanographers did recognized a series of movements Suspicion that suggested an anomalous wave. The strange signals were recorded by a mechanized buoy, which is part of a network of ocean sensors used by MarineLabs’ CoastAware platform to analyze everything that’s happening in the ocean. Back then, nothing was certain: the data had to be processed and examined before a conclusion could be drawn.
In addition, given that it is still impossible to place audiovisual recording equipment in the ocean (and at sea in general), it was not possible to “see” what really happened. Certainly gods cross checks They found that other state-of-the-art mechanized buoys, also owned by MarineLabs but deployed at Amphitrite Bank, about seven kilometers off Ucluelet, had also recorded some very peculiar signals. Which, by the way, were crucial.
The rogue wave and its record
The Amphitrite Bank mechanized buoy data has been thoroughly reviewed. To understand the large amount of registered numbersit must be remembered that in the sea, in addition to being self-sufficient thanks to solar energy and wind, this type of device is capable of logging and archiving everything related to the pressure, the orientation and the physical, chemical and biological parameters of the water , including temperature, salinity, chlorine level and evaporation time.
Because of this, it took two years to conclude that the recorded wave was indeed an anomalous wave, which we now know about the height: not less than 17.6 meters, as many as a four-story building. According to the experts who analyzed the data (published in the journal Scientific Reports), this is truly the highest and most extreme anomalous wave on record.
The reappearance of rogue waves
As we have already said, anomalous waves are mysterious phenomena: their origin is not yet understood, we do not know how they are formed or where they come from. Scientists who have given Ucluelet a “shape” have pointed out that few such waves have been directly detected and never one of this magnitude. In addition, they indicated that the probability of such an event occurring is high once every 1,300 yearswhich is reassuring.
In fact, the unpredictability of anomalous waves and their power (they are real “walls of water”) can cause them incredibly dangerous not only for ships and for maritime operations in general, but for everyone: if you crashed near the coast, the damage would be unimaginable to say the least. The data collected by mechanized buoys is only a starting point, in fact there is still a long way to go to understand and possibly prevent them.