Monster waves pound Otago coast

Huge waves pound the Oamaru breakwater yesterday. Photo by Rebecca Ryan.
Huge waves pound the Oamaru breakwater yesterday. Photo by Rebecca Ryan.
Big waves whip up the ocean off St Clair, with White Island in the background. Photo by Gerard O...
PHOTO: Gerard O'Brien
Waves at the St Clair Esplanade. Photo Allison Booth
Waves at the St Clair Esplanade. Photo Allison Booth
St Clair Esplanade. Photo Allison Booth
St Clair Esplanade. Photo Allison Booth
St Clair Esplanade. Photo Allison Booth
St Clair Esplanade. Photo Allison Booth
Big seas at St Clair beach yesterday. Photo Allison Booth
Big seas at St Clair beach yesterday. Photo Allison Booth

Ten-metre waves, whipped up deep in subantarctic waters, crashed into the Otago coast yesterday, preventing ships from entering the harbour and giving Dunedin beach defences a good workout.

The giant waves were breaking behind and over White Island off St Clair Beach, although the Esplanade appeared to have stood up to an onslaught at high tide, shortly before noon.

Department of Conservation ranger Colin Facer said he had been working at Taiaroa Head for 16 or 17 years ''and that would be the highest [seas] I would have seen''.

That sentiment was shared by Port Otago chief pilot Captain Hugh Marshall, who said: ''That's probably about right.''

The waves started to increase in size on Tuesday evening, but it was not until yesterday morning they began to affect vessels.

Capt Marshall said the Iver Express was delayed and was forced to wait off-shore until the conditions settled. It was expected to be there overnight.

The Port Otago vessel schedule showed three more vessels due between 4am and 9am today.

Capt Marshall said one issue was the easterly direction of the waves, which were breaking on the sandbar at Taiaroa Head.

''There's so much energy in that system that's coming from the south.

The wind's died down, but the swell's just continuing on.''

He hoped conditions would be calmer today.

MetService meteorologist Georgina Griffiths said the mean wave height off the coast was about 5m, with the ''occasional 10m running through''.

''Obviously, you've had five days of southerly gale or storm from Saturday in Otago, but it's eased off today.''

However, not all the waves were a result of the weather being ''really, really windy''.

The recent large low pressure system that brought snow to Dunedin had a long ''fetch'', or area of ocean surface affected.

The low had stretched to the subantarctic area, about 800km to the south.

''What we're actually seeing on the coast today is the longer waves coming from well south of New Zealand.''

The low had moved, but the big waves generated days ago when the low was south of New Zealand were peaking yesterday morning.

''They're really grunty; they've got a lot of energy associated with them.''

Erosion at St Clair closed a walking track this week, but Dunedin City Council parks manager Lisa Wheeler said there were no reports of further damage yesterday.

Huge waves and powerful winds scattered debris and stopped traffic on coastal roads in Wellington yesterday, NZME reported.

In the South Island, high tides and big swells blocked parts of State Highway 1 in Kaikoura.

The big swells in Cook Strait disrupted plans for some Interislander ferry passengers.

The 10.45am Aratere sailing from Picton was cancelled, and the 2.45pm sailing from Wellington was freight-only.

david.loughrey@odt.co.nz

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