The motion of the ocean

It’s not just the tides that make the sea move – waves do too!

WHAT MAKES WAVES?

Most ocean waves happen because of wind

Wind blows over the surface of the sea, pushing water up into ripples.

The ripples move across the sea…… and more wind makes them bigger . The stretch of water over which the wind blows is called the fetch .

The bigger the fetch, the bigger the waves can get!

Wind blowing over the sea makes waves form.

What did the ocean say to the shore? Nothing. It just waved!

Giant ‘rogue waves’ at sea can sink boats.

Answer on page 34

In Sebastian2020,Steudtner surfed the biggest wave ever surfed, at Nazaré, Portugal. It was 26 m high – as tall as an 8-storey block of flats! Woohoo!

Nazaré, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, has the biggest breakers in the world