Bow Waves

This past weekend I was looking through some of the photos I have on my computer and came across these from this past summer. When I took these pictures, I just took the pictures of the ducks because I thought that they were cute. Now with what I know about waves, I am able to describe why there are waves behind the ducks when they swim, how they form and why they appear the way they do.

As shown by the pattern of these swimmings ducks, the pattern of waves they leave behind them is that of a bow wave. In order for a bow wave to be created, the ducks need to swim at a faster speed than the waves they produce when swimming through the water. The waves the ducks in these pictures create is a two dimensional wave that overlaps at the edges and creates a pattern of waves similar to that of a V-shape. Science is everywhere!