How's The Water - The Wave by Susan Casey

I seem to finally have some time to catch up on some reading.  Maybe it is that I am no longer lured outside by light, and now that the night comes early, I am more inclined to stay inside and read some of the books that have caught my attention and put on my “read later” list.

One of these books is The Wave  - in Pursuit of Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey.  This is a examination of the huge “rogue waves” that were once regarded as mariner’s tales.  Casey starts the book with describing a harrowing voyage taken by a British research ship in the North Sea.  The scientists aboard and their equipment were battered and damaged, but the equipment kept working and recorded seas at 60 feet, and some waves of 90 feet or more.  Waves of 87 feet or more were also recorded by instruments on an oil platform in the North Sea.

The two disparate groups interviewed by Casey about the phenomenon of rogue waves each bring their own insight and impressive knowledge of the sea.  Who would know and watch the sea better than competitive surfers?  They may not have scientific degrees (although at least one surfer pursued his love and wish to understand the sea better to acquire a doctorate in physics) but surfers have an ability to read the wind and the waves, and draw on their experience to judge the big waves.  They too increasingly avail themselves of satellite tracking and technology to monitor the weather and ocean currents, to know where the next big waves will be.  As if surfing were not inherently dangerous enough, the most highly competitive surfers now use jet skis to have themselves towed out to the highest and most dangerous waves, some 80 feet or more.  They all speak of the thrill and rush of successfully surfing such a wave, but when they falter the consequences are catastrophic and can be deadly.  Laird Hamilton, a champion surfer followed by Casey in her research, has had over 1,000 stitches and multiple broken bones. 

The physicists and oceanographers all seek to understand how rogue waves work.  Interestingly, there is no universally accepted description for what even a simple wave, such as we see lapping the shores in Oyster Bay harbor, is.  There are many complex forces at work, the interplay of wind, gravity, climate and physics, which make waves hard to understand, mode and define.  It is important to better understand waves, since every week at least two ships are lost at sea worldwide and never heard from again.  Rogue waves are believed to be the cause.  Casey makes an interesting visit to Lloyd’s of London, which insures so many international vessels, and describes the mournful ceremony of striking the Lutine bell every time a ship is lost.  The cost in human life is substantial, as is damage to the environment from the cargoes spilled into the ocean. 

The climatologists, oceanographers and physicists all agree that we know and understand the surface of the moon better than we know our oceans and sea floor.  They predict that with climate change there will be more rogue waves as the ocean warms, and storms become stronger and more frequent.  If a wave hits a populated area, as evidenced by the Indonesian Tsunami, the damage will be catastrophic. 

This is a very interesting and challenging book and would make a great addition to your winter reading list.