For centuries, mariners have spun tales of gargantuan rogue waves over one hundred feet high. Scientists dismissed these stories until recently, when a British research vessel in the North Sea was trapped in a vortex of mammoth waves. As scientists scramble to understand these destructive monsters, others fly around the world in search of them. Susan Casey juxtaposes the exploits of the legendary Laird Hamilton and his fellow extreme surfers against scientists' urgent efforts to understand the annihilating power of waves. Book jacket.