Freak Waves

　　Today scientists working with wave pools and mathematical models have proven that gigantic freak waves can form in the ocean, seemingly out of nowhere, as high as 35 meters. New discoveries may help to make collisions between freak waves and ships predictable, and avoidable. These are not tsunamis or tidal waves, but huge breaking walls of water that come out of the blue.

　　The world's oceans claim on average one ship a week, often in mysterious circumstances, has renewed belief in a maritime myth: the wall of water. Waves the height of an office block. Waves twice as large as any that ships are designed to ride over.