'Once in a millennium': Record-breaking rogue wave measured off Vancouver Island
CTV
A massive ocean wave that was tracked off the west coast of Vancouver Island in 2020 is now considered the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded, according to scientists at the University of Victoria.
At 17.6 metres tall, the rogue swell reached as high as a four-storey building when it was detected near Ucluelet, B.C., in November 2020.
The wave is the subject of a new research paper published last week in the journal Scientific Reports by UVic scientists Johannes Gemmrich and Leah Cicon.
Also known as freak waves or killer waves, rogue waves are defined as one-off waves that reach at least twice as high as the surrounding ocean swell. Their tendency to occur with great force and little warning makes them especially dangerous for seafarers.
Scientists have been attempting to measure rogue waves since 1995, when the first such wave was recorded off Norway at a height of 25.6 metres.
Known as the "Draupner wave," it was spotted amid 12-metre seas, placing it at just over double the height of the surrounding waters.
While the Draupner wave was taller than the rogue wave measured off Ucluelet, the Ucluelet wave was nearly triple the height of the surrounding six-metre swells, and was therefore more "rogue" than its predecessor.
"Proportionally, the Ucluelet wave is likely the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded," said Gemmrich, who studies large waves off the B.C. coast as part of his work as a research physicist.
"Only a few rogue waves in high sea states have been observed directly, and nothing of this magnitude," he said. "The probability of such an event occurring is once in 1,300 years."
