Internal Waves at Hales Passage

The two photographs below I took may not exactly be anything to get excited about. However, this was a new observation for me. I had the pleasure of doing some field time with a few other folks versus my usual solo trips and Elizabeth and Bert spotted internal waves in Hales Passage between Lummi Island and Portage Island. 

 

Internal waves in Hales Passage

Portage Island on the left

Bellingham Bay extends behind Portage Island

Closer view of internal waves

 

Bert and Elizabeth have a better image of internal waves in Pacific Northwest waters  http://www.raincoastgeo.org/home.html and NASA has an image from space as well:

 

NASA image (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80337)

 

The waves are the result of waves between different density layers in the water at depth that express themselves on the surface as very slow moving waves. A good reminder that water needs to be thought of three dimensionally.