Back in 1998, a man took his girlfriend to Neskowin beach. His plan was to ask
his girlfriend to marry him. The couple was walking on the beach towards Proposal Rock
when suddenly a sneaker wave grabbed the young lady and pulled her into the ocean.
The young lady was briefly lifted above water by the waves one last time, and then she was
never seen again. As this very sad true story illustrates, sneaker waves
on the Oregon Coast are extremely dangerous and should be taken very seriously.
Although Tsunamis can
be known ahead of time because they are usually the result of earthquakes, sneaker
waves can not be predicted.
A sneaker wave may also be called a sleeper wave, a rogue wave, a Little Tsunami,
or simply a big wave. Anyway, a sneaker wave is basically a big out of proportion
wave that gets mixed in with smaller pattern looking waves. It is called a sneaker wave
because it can sneak up at anytime. There are no warnings or a set of rules when it will
happen. Just all of a sudden out of nowhere a sneaker wave will appear.
These sneaker waves happen at various degrees every day regardless of whether or how
rough the sea is and even during little surf.
The waves come fast, the water is ice cold and can take you way off shore in a very
short amount of time. It can also move heavy logs with very little water, or push you off
a cliff or rock close to water.
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