DURING the high and stormy seas of last week, a giant wave off the Kerry coast was picked up which was the second highest ever recorded in Irish seas.
The wave was measured 16.9 metres at 10am, last Friday making it the second highest on record. The highest on record is a 19.1 metre wave recorded on January 27, 2013, according to Met Eireann.
So far this month, the average wave height recorded by the Cork/Kerry buoy – used to measure waves – has been over 6m making it a period of unusually high seas.
Met Eireann have created a graph (below) to give you an indication of the size of the wave. Taking into account the height of a double decker bus at 4.38m, the wave measured almost four times that.
You wouldn’t fancy being in a boat facing that!
A thonn so thíos is aoirde géim go hard
meabhair mo chinn bodhar ód bhéiceach tá;
cabhair dá dtíodh arís go hÉirinn bháin,
do ghlam nach binn do dhingfinn féin od bhráid.
Aodhagán Ó Rathaille.