The Wave In Pursuit Of The Rogues

Maysie J. Casper

Mrs. Vermillion

AP Language and Composition

26 March 2018

A Shortened Version of The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean For centuries, the ocean has fascinated mankind with its intimidating immenseness and ominous unpredictability. The waves it produces- the large, freak waves in particular- attract surfers and scientists from all across the globe who indulge in the entertainment they produce and the chance to study their patterns. In her book, The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean, Susan Casey follows surfers from all parts of the world and interviews world-renowned scientists to study the ocean’s inner-workings and what makes it so appealing to such a wide array

There is one surfer in particular named Laird Hamilton, a legend in the surfing world, who describes the life-changing experience of riding- and hopefully surviving- a 70 or 80 foot wave. The feeling of riding a wave that gargantuan is like no other, like being as close to nature as one can possibly get and being able to feel its energy resonate throughout the surfer’s body. In addition to Hamilton, Casey describes encounters she had with other professional surfers and photographers for the sport. She travels with them, and even rides boats and jet-skis with them, to be able to get close to the rare rogue waves the ocean produces. Almost all of the people in the book describe the massive adrenaline rush and scared, yet exciting feelings of getting close to a wave the size of a seven-story office building. Along with the anxiousness of riding these huge waves comes the feeling of closeness to death, the subconscious knowledge that any sort of fumble in this situation could cost a surfer his or her life. Casey fills the pages of this book with accounts of seeing drowned and cut-up men washing up on the shore, not being able to see where the wave is in low visibility, and other descriptions to that effect. With great adventures comes an even greater risk, and although surfing the

Most prominently, she attended a conference in Hawaii led by the world’s most intelligent oceanographers and physicists to learn more about what causes waves taller than most skyscrapers to form. Although her book never revealed a clear answer, scientists presented thousands of formulas and theories in the field of quantum physics and molecular study to try to find the answer. The point of all this math and research is to find out what incites the deep sea to formulate these waves so that they can be better tracked and the height of them can be predicted for better warning of surfing conditions and safety reasons. Not only did the scientists featured in the book discuss how the waves are created, but the habits of the ocean itself. Most scientists that Casey interviewed were highly concerned with climate change and varying sea levels. In the future, if global warming and higher sea levels do occur, then the world is in for more tsunamis, earthquakes, and flooding than ever imagined. Throughout Casey’s entire book, there is a constant theme of danger and risk. Scientists do enjoy studying these freak waves and the ocean that produces them, but they also are aware of the increasing hazards that these waves induce and are trying to make the rest of the population aware of