Ocean science notes - - - Across England and whales, about 28% of the coastline is affected in some way by erosion. There is an average of 1.8 meters of erosion per year. Erosion rates are expected to increase by the end of the century because of increasing storms and rising sea levels due to climate change. The highest part of a wave is called a crest an the lowest is a trough. Wave height is overall vertical change in height between the crest and trough and the distance between 2 successive crests or troughs is the wavelength. Waves move in a trochoidal motion that causes an object to bob up and down, and forward and backward as waves pass under it. The speed that waves move through the water is dependant on the waves length and the depth of the water. The longer the length of the wave the faster it moves through the water. FLIP measures ocean waves without rocking around in the waves that its trying to measure, as it has great stability Before the newer methods to measure ocean currents, sailors would drop a drifter off an anchored ship and measure the amount of time it took the drifter to move the length of the ship. Then they would measure the distance moved, and the direction in which it moved to calculate the speed of the current, and determine velocity