Scientists have reported the registration of the highest sea wave in the southern hemisphere. During a strong storm in the South Ocean near New Zealand's Campbell Island, the buoy recorded a wave height of 23.8 metres. The Oceanographer Tom Durrant says that the previous record belonged to the wave height of 22.03 meters recorded in 2012.
As far as we know, this is the highest wave recorded in the southern hemisphere," says Durrant, adding that the southern ocean is the place where dead waves are formed that circulate around the planet. The surfers in California will be able to benefit in about a week from the energy of the wave just recorded, the scientist says.
According to Durrant, waves of more than 25 metres in height could have been generated during the storm, but the research buoy did not record them.
The buoy was installed in March. Its purpose is to record extreme phenomena in the South Ocean. In order to keep the power in the batteries for as long as possible, it only runs for 20 minutes every three hours. It's very likely that the highest waves were created when the buoy didn't work," explains Durrant.
The highest recorded wave in history was 30.5 meters high. It appeared in 1958 in the Gulf of Lituya in Alaska after the tsunami caused by the earthquake.