The open ocean can get fierce and wild. There, whipped into a frenzy, ocean swells and troughs can create walls of water that dwarf our puny seafaring vessels, and wreak peril on the humans brave ...

On New Year's Day 1995, a monstrous 80-foot wave in the North Sea slammed into the Draupner oil platform. The wall of water crumpled steel railings and flung heavy equipment across the deck—but its ...

The ocean is an intriguing and mysterious place. For every new species of sea creature we find, there are an untold number of others waiting to be discovered. But it isn't just sea life that has kept ...

In November of 2020, a freak wave came out of the blue, lifting a lonesome buoy off the coast of British Columbia 17.6 meters high (58 feet). The four-story wall of water was finally confirmed in ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...

We finally know the forces behind an 80-foot-tall wall of water that rocked the North Sea in 1995. By Laura Baisas Published Aug 5, 2025 12:30 PM EDT Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 ...

Once thought to be sailors’ myths, rogue waves gained credibility after a towering 80-foot wall of water struck the Draupner oil platform in 1995. New research shows that these extreme waves don’t ...

A size comparison of the "Draupner Wave" to 3 school buses stacked horizontally on top of one another. On New Year’s Day 1995, a monstrous 80-foot wave in the North Sea slammed into the Draupner oil ...

Under a hazy gray sky on the first day of 1995, the Draupner natural gas platform in the North Sea was struck by something that had long been relegated to maritime folklore: an 84-foot wall of water ...

Researchers have used lab models to study how rogue waves form, but these don't always transfer over to the natural world. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate ...