Going on a trip to the beach is what holiday dreams are made of.A beautiful scene is lying in the sun with warm sand between your toes and the water lapping against your feetIf you want to enjoy the ocean, don’t forget to stay safe in the water. Watch out for waves, and never turn your back on the ocean.
You may know a bit about rip currents and changing tides, but you might not know how dangerous square waves are.
Yes, this really does happen, and it’s a beautiful sight. But it’s also one of the scariest things you can see in the ocean.
A square wave, also called a “cross sea,” is made when two waves meet to make a square shape that looks a lot like a checkerboard.
In 2010, the European Space Agency said, “The conditions are quite common in the ocean and occur when a windsea and a swell, or two swell systems, coexist.”
It pointed to a 2004 study that showed “a large percentage of ship accidents occurred in crossing sea states.”
HowStuffWorks went on to state that these square waves don’t happen very often, but when they do, they tend to be near the coast.
