🔍 Key Concepts

• Wind at sea level vs. wind aloft – what you feel on deck is not always what moves clouds. • Difference between swells and wind waves – swells can travel far from where the wind actually is. • Relationship between wave faces, whitecaps, and wind direction at the surface.

💭 Think About

• Which surface features on the sea are created directly and immediately by the local wind, rather than by distant weather systems? • If the wind died right now, which of these would keep going in mostly the same direction for a long time? Would that still tell you the current wind direction? • What would clouds tell you about wind – is that the same layer/height as sea level, or higher up?

✅ Before You Answer

• Make sure you distinguish between local wind-driven waves and long-period swells generated far away. • Confirm which option best reflects current, local surface conditions rather than past or distant conditions. • Eliminate any choice that is clearly influenced by factors other than the wind direction at sea level (such as ship’s course or upper-level winds).