https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348578523
Knots, upwellings, and streaks form in the wakes of spilling breaking waves. Knots are due to the shedding of intense monopoles, dipoles, tripoles, and quadrupoles (Dommermuth, 2021a,b). Upwellings are due to eddys and vortex rings (Dommermuth, 2021b). Streaks of foam collect in interstitial regions where vorticity of opposite sign connects normal to the free surface (Dommermuth, 2020g). Knots, upwellings, and streaks are visible in Fitzpatrick’s (2014) YouTube video of a North Sea storm. Fitzpatrick’s (2014) video is annotated and comparisons are made to Dommermuth (2020c,g, 2021a,b)’s numerical simulations. The presence of knots in storm seas provides evidence that an inverse energy cascade is present in spilling breaking waves.