Latest news with #freakwave
The Australian
3 days ago
- General
- The Australian
‘Freak wave': Aussie reveals distressing moment boat capsized in Bali, killing three
One of the Australians on board a boat that capsized in Bali, which claimed three lives, has spoken out about the distressing ordeal. Liam Kerr was one of the 80 people on board the Fast Boat Dolphin II, which had crossed from Nusa Penida and was about 100m from its destination port in Sanur at about 5pm AEST Tuesday when it flipped and flew its occupants into the water. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) told NewsWire four Australians were confirmed to be on-board when the boat capsized. Three people were killed, including two Chinese nationals and an Indonesian crew member. Three people died after the boat capsized in Bali, throwing the 80 people into the water. Photo by Dicky Bisinglasi / AFP Speaking to Today, Liam said the boat was returning to the shore when it was hit by a 'freak wave', flipping the boat 'instantly' and tossing people into the water. Standing on the top deck with his friends, the impact of the wave tossed the group off the boat, while others were stuck inside it. 'It was kind of within two, three seconds we went from being everything's fine and normal to (the boat being) upside down, and we're in the water,' he said. Liam Kerr was one of the 80 people on board when they were tossed into the water. Picture: Liam Kerr/ 9News As Liam returned to the surface, he noticed many others were struggling to keep above the water. 'I popped up and there was a younger Indonesian guy who actually couldn't swim and he grabbed hold of me, but I pushed him away because there was nothing I could really do,' he said. 'He was actually one of the guys who passed away, so that was pretty confronting for my mates and I.' The Perth man grabbed his phone and captured the moment the boat was flipped upside down, with the passengers floating nearby as the rescue team worked to pull them from the water. The Australian managed to capture footage of the moments after the boat flipped. Picture: Liam Kerr/ 9News It wasn't until he returned home to Perth yesterday that the reality of the incident sunk in. 'But now I'm back, it all kind of hit me pretty hard last night, I'm just really grateful that we're okay, it could have been a lot worse for one of us,' he said. 'We are kind of just in disbelief and shock that it happened.' He said the reality of the situation didn't sink in until he returned home to Perth. Picture: Liam Kerr /Today Maritime accidents are common in Indonesia due to poorly regulated safety rules, overcrowding and rough sea conditions. Smartraveller warns Australians travelling to Indonesia to be cautious of rough seas and strong rips at tourist beaches. In March, a 39-year-old Australian woman was killed and two others were injured after a snorkelling boat capsized off the coast of Bali.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
‘Freak wave': Aussie reveals distressing moment boat capsized in Bali, killing three
One of the Australians on board a boat that capsized in Bali, which claimed three lives, has spoken out about the distressing ordeal. Liam Kerr was one of the 80 people on board the Fast Boat Dolphin II, which had crossed from Nusa Penida and was about 100m from its destination port in Sanur at about 5pm AEST Tuesday when it flipped and flew its occupants into the water. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) told NewsWire four Australians were confirmed to be on-board when the boat capsized. Three people were killed, including two Chinese nationals and an Indonesian crew member. Speaking to Today, Liam said the boat was returning to the shore when it was hit by a 'freak wave', flipping the boat 'instantly' and tossing people into the water. Standing on the top deck with his friends, the impact of the wave tossed the group off the boat, while others were stuck inside it. 'It was kind of within two, three seconds we went from being everything's fine and normal to (the boat being) upside down, and we're in the water,' he said. As Liam returned to the surface, he noticed many others were struggling to keep above the water. 'I popped up and there was a younger Indonesian guy who actually couldn't swim and he grabbed hold of me, but I pushed him away because there was nothing I could really do,' he said. 'He was actually one of the guys who passed away, so that was pretty confronting for my mates and I.' The Perth man grabbed his phone and captured the moment the boat was flipped upside down, with the passengers floating nearby as the rescue team worked to pull them from the water. It wasn't until he returned home to Perth yesterday that the reality of the incident sunk in. 'But now I'm back, it all kind of hit me pretty hard last night, I'm just really grateful that we're okay, it could have been a lot worse for one of us,' he said. 'We are kind of just in disbelief and shock that it happened.' Maritime accidents are common in Indonesia due to poorly regulated safety rules, overcrowding and rough sea conditions. Smartraveller warns Australians travelling to Indonesia to be cautious of rough seas and strong rips at tourist beaches. In March, a 39-year-old Australian woman was killed and two others were injured after a snorkelling boat capsized off the coast of Bali.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Giant Wave in Pacific Ocean Was The Most Extreme 'Rogue Wave' Ever Recorded
In November 2020, a freak wave appeared, lifting a lone buoy off the coast of British Columbia 17.6 meters (58 feet) high. A few years later, the four-story wall of water was confirmed to be the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded. Such an extraordinary event is thought to happen only once every 1,300 years. And if the buoy hadn't been taken for a ride, we might never have known it had occurred. For centuries, rogue waves were regarded as mere nautical folklore. It wasn't until 1995 that myth became reality. On the first day of the new year, a nearly 26-meter (85-foot) wave struck an oil-drilling platform about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of Norway. Related: At the time, the so-called Draupner wave defied all previous models scientists had put together. Since then, dozens more rogue waves have been recorded (some even in lakes), and while the one that surfaced near Ucluelet, Vancouver Island was not the tallest, its relative size compared to the waves around it was unprecedented. Scientists define a rogue wave as any wave more than twice the height of the waves surrounding it. The Draupner wave, for instance, was 25.6 meters tall, while its neighbors were only 12 meters tall. In comparison, the Ucluelet wave was nearly three times the size of its peers. "Proportionally, the Ucluelet wave is likely the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded," explained physicist Johannes Gemmrich from the University of Victoria in 2022. "Only a few rogue waves in high sea states have been observed directly, and nothing of this magnitude." Today, researchers are still trying to figure out how rogue waves are formed so we can better predict when they will arise. This includes measuring rogue waves in real time and also running models on the way they get whipped up by the wind. The buoy that picked up the Ucluelet wave was placed offshore along with dozens of others by a research institute called MarineLabs in an attempt to learn more about hazards out in the deep. Even when freak waves occur far offshore, they can still destroy marine operations, wind farms, or oil rigs. If they are big enough, they can even put the lives of beachgoers at risk. Luckily, neither Ucluelet nor Draupner caused any severe damage or took any lives, but other rogue waves have. Some ships that went missing in the 1970s, for instance, are now thought to have been sunk by sudden, looming waves. The leftover floating wreckage looks like the work of an immense white cap. Unfortunately, a 2020 study predicted wave heights in the North Pacific are going to increase with climate change, which suggests the Ucluelet wave may not hold its record for as long as our current predictions suggest. Experimental research published last year suggests these monstrous waves can be up to four times higher than previously thought possible. "We are aiming to improve safety and decision-making for marine operations and coastal communities through widespread measurement of the world's coastlines," said MarineLabs CEO Scott Beatty. "Capturing this once-in-a-millennium wave, right in our backyard, is a thrilling indicator of the power of coastal intelligence to transform marine safety." The study was published in Scientific Reports. An earlier version of this article was published in February 2022. Related News Mind-Blowing Discovery: Peacocks Have Lasers In Their Tails World's Longest Lightning Strike Crossed 515 Miles From Texas to Kansas Stunning New Video Reveals Deepest-Known Undersea Life Forms Solve the daily Crossword
