hi
I am probably missing something obvious here but does anyone know what the difference is between the "Sea" and "Swell" descriptions on the below forecast for Bass Straight;

If you search on the BOM site there is a table that explains sea and swell height


Bureau Home > Marine & Ocean > How to calculate the combined sea and swell height<

Cheers Scott

sea is the chop formed by the wind which is blowing at present or has just been blowing this is the bit we all hate swell is the long period wave that lies underneath and is usually not much to worry about at sea until it encounters current or land or cross seas or swells then can cause breaking tops 'yucky'

ok, thanks for that