High freak waves were not a ‘mini-tsunami’

joe briffa

Jul 20th 2012, 08:08

A sort of mini Tsunami I witnessed years ago in Ghadira bay,when within20 minutes about 40 metres off the shore from the umbrellas the sea got dry,as if a low tide was on,then after the tide came back in and almost reached the wall beneath the road...

marco caruana

Jul 19th 2012, 15:05

it has nothing to do with the waves but its a BIG shame that sliema ASC charge €4 For anyone just trespassing the area to swim in open sea !

F. Pisani

Jul 19th 2012, 13:46

Good but all i have to say is this. Despite what the virtue ferries spokesman claim, no known pleasure boat can generate that type of wave unless the boat in concern is about 300m long.........ehh which is not a pleasure boat at all, I assume,……… its an oil tanker on coarse at full speed, about 3 miles of the coast, in which case the wave will loose it’s power as it moves through the water. But in his defense I have been several times in a small boat with the catamaran moving in the harbor at high speed and non of them ever been that high I can assure you. Last but not least yes an atmospheric difference can cause something like this but I is not due to global warming. Global warming is a myth. The main reason for these atmospheric changes is due to climate change, which earth is going thru naturally

Victor Schembri

Jul 19th 2012, 13:44

2 yrs ago a freak wave swept away my mobile in Sliema.

Claudio Cilia

Jul 19th 2012, 13:07

Climate Change at all! I hate it when these 'trying to make everything seem common' experts talk like that

James Tyrrell

Jul 19th 2012, 13:03

Probably just a hint from God to get all those sunbeds and umbrellas off every square foot of sand so that his people can enjoy the beach!

Keith Cauchi

Jul 19th 2012, 12:54

Let's be constructive about this shall we? I think that since it's given that these sort of waves are granted to be battering the Northeast facing coast year-in year-out, a good way of protecting the coast would be that of creating a man made coral reef. Particularly, the scuttling of decommissioned vessels could help provide a breeding ground for corals. For those of us who are not familiar with this procedure, the scuttling of ships after decommissioning is not a source of pollution but actually helps the marine eco system though in a small manner, since the decaying metal would provide food for corals which at a later time would form a reef of their own from the remains.

This could also be aided by deploying underwater barriers, just out at sea so that they would provide a primary line of defense. Of course the waves would still make it to shore in part but at least the coast would not bear the full brunt of the waves. Other than that, it would be wise to seek ways in which to turn the sea into a powerful source of energy. Rather than stopping at just running away from it, we could harvest its potential and turn it into our no. 1 resource in full effect

Joe Xuereb

Jul 19th 2012, 12:32

Nature may be motherly but she can also be a bit of a bitch. In fact she is that all the time. So forget the 'mother' bit. She is an ogress who eats her own children. More prosaically, 'the sins of the mother' (but usually expressed 'in the name of the father and his sins visited upon his sons') is a truism if ever there was one.

Don't go near the water, says the mother to the child. You'll come back home without your flip-flops. Where's Johnny?! OMG, where's Johnny? Where's me? Aaaaaaaargh!!!!*

Mess with Nature and she'll mess with you. For Nature, like Britannia, rules the waves.

And on a more positive note - I remember as a child looked out on the roof of the family home in Hamrun for misbehaving - what was mum thinking? - seeing the sea-spray rise above two miles of roofs looking towards the capital. It was might exciting. The sea was having a bad-hair day. I told you, don't go near the water! Off you go to the roof, banished for half an hour. Until lunch. Because mothers may be punitive but they have a soft under-belly. Until the next punishment.

*Not at all funny, of course. So why say it? I was only trying to make a point, strongly. Honest!

@Kenneth Galea (19th July 11:04). Kenneth, Mother Nature has decreed that Malta's Summers will get sweatier, and England's muggier. Time to come and getted mugged in London, where the Summer months are like a Maltese September at its worse (riħ isfel, wind downstairs; but it loses something in translation , somewhat. Like Johnny's flip-flops, and the rest).

Mark J. Magri

Jul 19th 2012, 12:11

Maybe this is the first sign of the 21st.December 2012-marking as Dooms Day for some....who knows?
GRANPINTO

Vincent Scerri

Jul 19th 2012, 12:07

I was always under the impression that 'seiches' is another word for tide. When I was a student( long long time ago) we were taught that Malta does not experience tides but we have what we call seiches.

Simon Ciantar

Jul 19th 2012, 12:05

2 story high waves ?? i think not ! I was in Xemxija looking at my boat's mooring and i can assure you if the swell had been that high , most of the boats in the inner side of xemxija would be in Pwales right now ! from what i saw it was more like a metre , giving allowance to the fact that i might have broken up somewhat in Xemxija that in Sliema might have been twice that amount but not more

John Azzopoardi

Jul 19th 2012, 11:21

Let us not get all dramatic. It just waves like we see when the season changes..............Just be careful out there.

Kenneth Galea

Jul 19th 2012, 11:04

And when I foolishly thought it was a sign that this horrid, brutal summer was coming to an end! Wishful thinking. A lot of people now wish for this summer to be pushed out and we enter an early autumn, yes let the freaky waves give the sea fronts a good pounding by the gale force winds and rain and much cooler temperatures.

Geoffrey Farrugia

Jul 19th 2012, 10:55

Waves like these have been hitting our shores throughout the years and there is nothing particularly weird about them.

The problem is that we keep occupying areas that are subject to these kind of natural phenomena and what years ago was unnoticed by most people, today these phenomena have suddenly become hazards especially in areas like the Sliema shore which is packed with people.

We have to learn to respect nature and that the sea is constantly moving and can be as dangerous as it is beautiful.

DannyBoy BartoloJr.

Jul 19th 2012, 10:52

Sliema sea fron is a very unpredictable area, people should be aware of such freak waves as we seem to get this every year and one day its going to be IT. the giant of all giants.

B Debono

Jul 19th 2012, 10:36

Trying to calm people down, right? .. Sweet!

Matthew Farrugia

Jul 19th 2012, 10:35

Have a look at what lies down beneath the surface around the fortizza area visit http://matfar.co.uk/?portfoliocpt=fortizza-reef-coral-gardens-sliema

Victor Rodenas

Jul 19th 2012, 10:18

If one is on 3 or 4 mts. boat say 200 mts. out at sea and see such a wave coming what is the best thing to do,.....increase speed and ride it like a surf board or face the wave at full speed.Knowledge can save lives.

E. De Marco

Jul 19th 2012, 10:16

Seiches can also be induced by tsunami, a series of waves generated in a body of water by a pulsating or abrupt disturbance that virtually displaces the water column....nothing to worry about if you're safe & sound 10 miles away from the shore!

Mr Tony Gatt

Jul 19th 2012, 09:43

The comment about large catamarans is interesting. It was found in an English port some time ago that mysterious undertows appeared around the time large catamaran ferries entered. The catamaran did not appear to be making waves but further investigation proved that although the surface appeared calm, the ferries had created large undertows which tore yachts from their moorings.