From Jonathan Seagrave
Your article on using a series of columns fixed to the seabed to dissipate wave energy and protect a coastline against tsunamis suggests an alternative concept (4 June, p 14).
A curtain of bubbles can also damp waves. Usually such curtains are generated from compressed air which is piped to the seabed, and they are used commercially for special situations – for example, as protection for marine life when old munitions are destroyed by being blown up.
Perhaps a truly massive “wall” of bubbles could force a wave to break much further offshore, thereby losing much of its energy, or even divert it to a point where it does no harm.
Bristol, UK
