Sneaker wave

A sneaker wave (also known as a sleeper wave, a rogue wave,[1] or (in Australia) a king wave) is a disproportionately large coastal wave that can sometimes appear in a wave train without warning. The terminology is popular rather than scientific: there is no scientific coverage (or evidence) of the phenomenon as a distinct sort of wave with respect to height or predictability as there is on other extreme wave events such as rogue waves. One American oceanographer distinguishes "rogue waves" as occurring on the ocean and "sneaker waves" as occurring at the shore.[2]

Because they are much larger than preceding waves, sneaker waves can catch unwary swimmers, waders, and even people on the beaches and ocean jetties, and wash them into the sea. Sneaker waves are mainly referred to in warnings and reports of incidents for the coasts of Central and Northern California (including the San Francisco Bay Area's beaches, especially Ocean Beach,[3] Baker Beach,[4] and those that face the Pacific Ocean)[5] (e.g. from Big Sur to the California–Oregon border), Oregon, and Washington in the Western United States.[6][7][8][9][10][11] These sneaker waves also occur on the coast of British Columbia in Western Canada, especially this province's southern coast, because they commonly occur on the west coast of Vancouver Island (including Tofino, Ucluelet, and Cape Scott Provincial Park).[12][13][14][15] Sneaker waves are common on the southern coast of Iceland, and warning signs have been erected at Reynisfjara and Kirkjufjara beaches, following three unrelated tourist deaths in recent years.[16] King waves occur especially in Western Australia and Tasmania.[17]