Facts #651-654 Rouge Waves expanded
Fun Fact #651
Washout from the Draupner Wave
After the Draupner wave (85ft/26m above sea-state) while many were concerned about the safety of modern ships some historians got very curious. You see there were a lot of ship logs, records, and even tales thought to have been… a little tall to be believed from throughout history. Afterall, following the Gorm platform’s report of a 36ft tall rouge wave in 1984 researchers proved it was likely impossible to create such an isolated wave outside of a lab-controlled environment. Yet the researchers were wrong, and now those “Tall Tales” had to be reexamined.
Turns out many of them were likely real. In many cases these reports closely match conditions we have now observed with scientific equipment. Two geographically related cases came from Eagle Island (County Mayo, 1861) and nearby Fasnet Lighthouse (County Cork, 1881) in which both lighthouses had their crews report a “Monster Wave” striking their lighthouse. The former escaped with minor damage while the latter was split in two and abandoned for a time, before it was rebuilt in 1904 out of granite and remained in operation until 1985 when it was struck again. Fasnet Lighthouse then returned to operation in 1989 after it was made to function autonomously which it continues to do so to this day.
Image of Fasnet Lighthouse
Fun Fact #652
Rouge Hunt Expanded
Today the search through historical records for evidence of Rouge waves is still ongoing and has even expanded beyond records that explicitly mention monstrously large waves. The cause of this expansion came from someone asking if the Famous 1900 Flannan Isles Disappearance could have been caused by a Rouge wave. Evidence points to this being the case since much of the water equipment was found washed up very high on the shore of the island nearly reaching the lighthouse. Conditions similar to a low-pressure system also moved into the area shortly before the lighthouse was found abandoned which has been one of the few correlations between rouge waves observed.
The only survivor of the 4 member group to the island admitted that on calm nights they would sometimes go outside to look at the stars. That man only survived because he was offsite visiting home at the time (rotating crew). Meaning if a Rouge wave occurred in calm conditions the star-gazing crew might have been swept out to the sea. If this is indeed what happened then on the bright side they likely didn't suffer but were killed on impact by the weight of the water. Flannan Isle also has a history with sneaker waves, although a rogue wave has yet to be observed in that region of Scotland directly.
On a Completely unrelated note, the North Isle Council just granted permission (December 30th, 2025) to expand the lighthouse to hold more people with an exhibition area, offices, and two self-catering holiday flats. A place known for sudden, unpredictable waves resulting in disaster forming a plan to return to having human occupants after 125 years? No, what could possibly go wrong. Thankfully their plans include designing the buildings to survive potential strikes from rouge waves, so actual disaster probability is thankfully low.
Still, I'd bet someone might be able to make a good Isolation-Horror movie from the concept.
Image of the modern Flannan Isle Lighthouse
Fun Fact #653
The Rogues Gallery
When it comes to Rouge Waves many people think “Oh big wave gonna sink or wash away people/property. Yet there are deadlier dangers associated with them, than just washout. Chief among these worries is the impact damage since Rouge waves hit in a completely different weight class than other risks encountered at sea. The weight of the water can cause a momentary spike in the psi/kPa that the surface of the craft experiences. The best documented case of this comes from The Wreck of the DerbyShire, whose main hatches were found caved in and several of the internal steel supports were found to have brittle fractured. The highest in terms of psi/kPa on record from a Rouge wave is from a strike on the Alderney Breakwater in the channel islands 2004 measuring 108.1psi/745kPa –far above even modern standards. If it were to strike a ship today it would likely sink almost any commercial craft.
Alright so Rouge waves are in a class all their own, but surely that’s the worst of it right? Well aside from the fact that these waves –for some unknown reason– usually form in groups of 3 they also pose a risk to aircraft. No joke the US Coastguard was actually concerned about this and has since adapted the search and rescue procedure as a result. This is because in a search and rescue operation they tend to fly their aircraft much closer to the water and a sudden unexpected wave over 85 feet tall would definitely be tall enough to knock just such an aircraft down. In fact several cases revisited where S&R craft seemingly vanished without a trace Rouge waves have been deemed as the likely cause. As a result when such waves are spotted all S&R operations in that area cease for a time while they monitor weather conditions for improvement. It doesn't matter if you saw one wave or a complete set of 3.
Image of the Derbyshire before its loss off the coast of Okinowa Japan September 10th, 1980.
Fun Fact #654
The Rouge Dragon
Interestingly the existence of Rouge waves in Nature has also called into question other conditions thought to exist only in a lab, Chief among these worries are “Sudden Holes” or “Rouge Holes” which are like Rouge waves but instead of climbing into the sky they drop down below the surrounding seascape.
Now you may be thinking “Wait, that water has to come from somewhere, why don’t rouge waves have Rouge Holes?” but in short, Rouge waves which occur in deep water do not have rouge holes because the entirety of the surrounding water is lowered slightly to support the wave (part of 2 diffrent theories on how they form but this is debatable) as a result you wouldn't have a noticeable drop in water level like you do in shallows. Like how Rouge waves used to be, we can actually recreate these Rouge Holes in labs and scientific pools where settings and conditions can be set, however they’ve yet to be encountered or recorded in nature. … With an argument for one possible exception wothy of note.
Christopher Columbous is famous for having brought awareness of the New World to the Powers of Europe, but he did have more voyages. On his third he was exploring what is now Venezuela when he passed between The Island of Trinidad and The Paria Peninsula into Columbus Bay. In the passage between the two his ships encountered a “Mountain of water” towering above the height of their mast before landing in a great pit and then rising back to level with the sea again. This understandably caused great fear in the sailors, but they made it out alive and named the straight “Bocas del Dragón” or “Mouths of the Dragon”. Today this straight is still dangerous but the danger here is now known to be caused by strong tidal bores and not rouge waves meaning if you avoid passing during certain hours of the day the danger is greatly reduced.
However, Columbous' account doesn't match up with how we know tidal bores work, as evidenced by the fact that if he was right about the wave's height it would by far be the worst tidal bore ever recorded. Additionally falling into a massive trough after the giant wave wouldn't happen with our current understanding. Thus, leading to a scientific debate whose answer rests on how much you trust Christopher Columbous' ability to accurately record the events of his journey.
Did his crew sail through and document the only rouge hole ever found 490 years before they were even theorized? Or did their story use exaggeration to dip below the waters of reality and into the seas of fiction?
As always thanks for reading and please have a wonderful day.
Image was created by National Geographic for use by the Save our Seas Foundation (where I found the image on their website)
