Write answers to the questions on your copies. When you are satisfied with your answers, type them into the computer, and submit them. Keep the copies as a study aid. The waves that break on the beach were created by wind blowing over water. Swell waves can travel for very long distances across the ocean without losing the energy they acquired from the wind.
Local wind can also generate waves.
So sea waves are generated locally and swell waves are generated far away in the open ocean. This exercise will deal with the generation and evolution of swell waves. This image of wave height and direction is typical for the North Pacific Ocean, where most of the waves that hit our shores are generated. The arrows point in the direction that the waves are moving. The data in this image were acquired by instruments on buoys and ships that measure wave height.