This Saturday just gone, a lonely buoy floating in the Southern Ocean recorded one of the largest waves ever registered in the Southern Hemisphere – 19.4 metres, or when converted, 63.64829 feet.
Website weatherwatch.co.nz spoke to senior oceanographer Dr Tom Durrant, who explained, "This is the world's southern-most wave buoy moored in the open ocean, and we are excited to put it to the test in large seas."
Now, 63.64829 feet may seem a little underwhelming. Hell, the winner of the 2017 XXL Biggest Wave Francisco Porcella is credited with wrangling a 73-foot face to take the award. These days 63 feet is barely enough to get Garret McNamara out of bed.
However, the key piece of information to take from Dr Durrant ‘s spiel is that this was an ‘open ocean’ wave, measured in the middle of nowhere in the Southern Ocean, at 150 metres deep! Had this lump of water hit shallower water, there’s no telling how large it could’ve been.
Dr Durrant went on to say, “Accurate measurements of these conditions will help us understand waves and air-sea interactions in these extreme conditions. This, in turn, will lead to improvements in the models used to simulate the waves, providing better forecasts, both for the Southern Ocean and for the wider region. Waves generated in the Southern Ocean have far-reaching effects, contributing significantly to the wave climate in all the major ocean basins."
Good news for the world’s big wave riders, who rely on this data to plan their strike missions.
All this info as well as live data is freely available here: http://www.metocean.co.nz/wave-buoy/
The only question that remains: if this information was freely available, then where were Laird and Kai Lenny on the hydrofoils??