Ocean Hazards
During this activity, we watched the Dangerous World video concerning tsunamis, rip currents and jellyfish. While watching, we took notes and put them together in 3 different paragraphs. In each category (tsunami, rip currents and jellyfish) there was a danger equation. The equation shows 3 key components for the disaster to happen.
Tsunamis
For tsunamis to happen, there are three things required; undersea earthquakes, ocean wave physics and seafloor topography. When the Burma plate and the India Plate rubbed against each other, it caused an undersea earthquake. Due to the undersea earthquake, it caused ocean wave physics. This ends up displacing water in the ocean. When the waves are near an area, its seafloor topography determines the tsunami's power. If it is a low shoreline, it launches a tsunami, whereas a steep shoreline can stop the waves.
Rip Currents
Rip currents are also a hazard in the ocean. They are first formed by underwater topography, which helps form the rip currents. Then, as waves are coming in, it transforms into a hill. To bring the water back, gravity tries to pull the hill back, but the hill may be too strong. This is surf-zone physics. If someone is caught in a rip current, they might be inexperienced when it comes to rip currents. This causes panic and the person begins to swim against the rip current, but they cannot swim back to shore, as the rip current is too strong and pulls them further back. This ends up in the person's death. However, you can escape a rip current by swimming sideways.
Jellyfish
Along with tsunamis and rip currents, jellyfish are also a big threat in oceans. People may get stung by one due to shared habitats when you are swimming in the Great Barrier Reef. Some chances are they might get stung by the box jellyfish. The box jellyfish has one of the deadliest poisons. This poison goes straight for the heart, nervous system and skin cells. However, there is another deadly jellyfish, the Irukandji jellyfish. The Irukandji's poison causes a rapid increase in blood pressure, severe pain in the back and kidneys, excruciating cramps and more. Both the Irukandji and the Box jellyfish like warm waters, so when it becomes summertime, more jellyfish appear. The fact that we're hunting more fish means more room for jellyfish.