Dana wrote: >I have however noticed, from land that the local inland >sea, Lake Superior, can appear to be higher than the land. Sid Taylor wrote: >The entire ocean seemed to tilt. Finally the sea began >to swirl its way back into the hole which seemed to fill >reluctantly. G'Day, Thats four of us who have reported similar effects. (I had one reply also back channel). Dana sounds as though his observation was a land based mirror of the illusion seen from the sea. I've not seen the swirling effect Sid mentions but his description of the ocean seeming to tilt is right on the button. Maybe its caused by a local variation in refractive index of air a few meters above the sea surface. Line diagrams suggest it might be, but would water laden air cause enough change to explain the illusion? All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
From: "PeterO" <rebyl_kayak_at_iprimus.com.au> > Maybe its caused by a local variation in refractive index of air a > few meters above the sea surface. Line diagrams suggest it might be, but > would water laden air cause enough change to explain the illusion? The first thing I though of was refraction. The refraction may be a temperature, rather than humidity, effect. Hot land, cool water - air temp low near the surface and increasing with height. Thermally caused refraction causes mirages and that's just a bending-around-the-horizon sort of thing, as your experience is. I think refraction and vertigo-like effects on balance organs would be the first two likely candidates. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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