4 The Sea 
ocean waves, which, moving away from the center. of dis- 
turbance, gradually are damped out and lose their energy in 
the form of heat through the friction resistance of one par- 
ticle of water against another or against the ocean shores. 
The experiment with the stone falling into the pond will 
convince you of another thing about waves; namely, the 
water does not move along with the waves! A piece of flotsam 
does not move much in the direction of the waves, neither 
does your ship. You encounter a large wave; it lifts you up, 
sets you down again, but does not carry you along with it as 
it would if the sea water moved along with it. The water stays 
put; the wave moves through it. A drifting boat progresses 
because it is pushed by the wind or is carried by a current or 
by the tide. 
The best way to describe a wave scientifically is to say that 
it is a traveling disturbance which passes along the surface 
of the ocean, moving the particles of water around a little, 
but not actually carrying them along with it. In fact, during 
the passage of an ocean wave, the particles of water perform 
a kind of circular motion. As a wave approaches, the particle 
moves toward it in an upward swooping motion. Gradually it 
is raised and its direction of motion reversed until it moves 
along with the wave. Then it sinks and falls back into its orig- 
inal position, and the wave passes on. 
A SUBMARINE AS A LABORATORY 
In deep water the disturbance of water particles due to a 
passing ocean wave does not extend very far beneath the 
surface. Even when there is a considerable amount of wave 
motion on the surface, water some depth below may be quite 
calm. This fact is noticed particularly in a submerged sub- 
