Rogue wave

At the same time...

The rogue wave theory, right? Or something like that.

This is leading up, yeah.

So it might have just not even been a rogue wave.

It might have just been two tall waves.

Oh, wow.

yeah

sings that one in this it goes

Oh, I'm afraid the bad news first, it is terrifying, but not because the ocean is a villain, more because it's a maths problem that got angry.

Rogue waves can form when multiple wave trains line up, like bad luck stacking.

Sometimes currents squeeze them, sometimes crossing storms do it, sometimes nonlinear effects pile on.

Not one recipe, many.

And that's a little bit of, I guess, what fascinates me because how many of these stories throughout history were dismissed because they sounded ridiculous? And the problem was we just didn't have a good way to measure what actually happened.

But we also kind of can't go too far in the other direction.

Just because rogue waves exist doesn't mean that every sailor's story was a hundred percent accurate, or every missing ship was swallowed by one of these rogue waves.

And, you know, for, for a long time, you know, we had these reports, we had these theories, we had mathematical models, but we really just needed a measurement, you know, some, some science behind it.

Is it The Wave or Waves? I have it right here on my bookshelf.

The whole idea of these rogue waves just, it stays with me.

So I was curious, what would frighten you more, being on the surface with one of these 100-foot rogue waves coming down on you, bearing down on you, or being thousands of feet underwater in a submersible surrounded by complete darkness and crushing depth.

I mean, I've actually done both things.

I didn't quite see a 100-foot wave, but I did see some 65-footers when I was reporting that book, and I have been down 17,000 feet in a submersible.

No. It's the zombie zone.

where everything gets eaten.

I want to go back because I'm still fascinated with the rogue waves and I'm, you know, kind of like what kind of creates the scenario because just the thought of being out there and, you know, you're on a cruise ship, you're on a cargo ship and all of a sudden you get this rogue wave that rolls in.

So I suppose there's a variety of different bits of stories and songs and folklore surrounding it, you know.

And yeah, as you say, there's, you know, different accounts, some... referenced Freak Wave, others An Ancient Curse.

What is it about this particular legend that captured your imagination? I mentioned your late dad.

Was it hearing through the legend, through him, that kind of captured your imagination as a young fella?