Why The Coconut Palm Points to the Sea
The coconut palm tree (Cocos nucifera) does something that very few trees do. It leans into wind. Most trees have trunks that will bend away…
Tag: beach
The Sorting by Sea Currents
Sea currents sort objects according to size, shape and weight. There is a documented case of left Wellington boots from a lost container washing up…
Pacific Island Navigation
There was a near perfect ripple map on a very windy West Wittering beach yesterday. The different wave patterns on each side of an island…
The Beach ‘Step’
The ‘step’ is the line where the beach gradient steepens and the water suddenly gets a bit deeper. It is marked by a line of…
The Effect of Wind on Breaking Waves
The way waves behave is a big subject. But here we’ll look at just one simple aspect, the way the wind shapes breaking waves at…
What is swash?
Swash is the name given to the waves that rush up the beach after a wave has broken. They are intriguing little waves that inhabit…
The Pebbles on the Beach
Thank you to everyone who tuned in to listen to me eulogise Clarence Ellis’ book, The Pebbles on the Beach, on the Today programme on…
The Colour of Water
The colour of water is determined by: A) What’s under it. B) What’s in it. C) What’s on it. D) And by light levels and…