A new study from San Francisco State professor Tim Janssen is showing that "freak waves" (known as "rogue waves") are not as uncommon as once thought.

"In a normal wave field, on average, roughly three waves in every 10,000 are extreme waves," Janssen said. "In a focal zone, this number could increase to about three in every 1,000 waves. In a focal zone, the average wave height is already increased due to the focusing of energy so that an extreme wave in such a high energy area can potentially be very energetic and dangerous."

Link to story: New research sheds light on freak wave hot spots