# Has anybody ever seen Sea-Smoke? (pics) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 30, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-seen-sea-smoke-pics/435585 "2008-01-30T14:45:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-seen-sea-smoke-pics/435585/1 "2008-01-30T14:45:52Z")
This past weekend I woke up early and ventured out onto the beach, as I do most mornings, this morning however, it was sooooo cold the ocean had some seas smoke on it. [Sea Smoke](http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r156/Phlosphr/seasmoke1.jpg) is formed when VERY cold air goes over warmer water…it’s technically fog, but as you can see not really… Notice the cloud cover on the horizon…well, that’s not really the horizon, there is an Island right there [1/2 mile from where I’m standing] it’s just completely engulfed in the sea smoke. As the day heated up and the “smoke” lifted the island appeared to be floating ontop of the ocean. I wish I took a pic, it happens every couple weeks when it is VERY cold. Early Sailors loved when they saw sea smoke because it usually was a precursor to a heavy winds with zero cloud cover…great for sailing. ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-seen-sea-smoke-pics/435585/2 "2008-01-30T14:54:36Z")
Yes, a few years back at the beach in New Symrna, Florida, in July. Ours was caused by [upwelling](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upwelling). Very odd. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-seen-sea-smoke-pics/435585/3 "2008-01-30T15:08:41Z")
Our pond was doing that this a.m. - it happens quite often in the winter. But I’ve never seen the ocean do it. Probably because I’ve only been there in the summer time. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-seen-sea-smoke-pics/435585/4 "2008-01-30T15:37:08Z")
I see it often on Lake Superior. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-seen-sea-smoke-pics/435585/5 "2008-01-30T15:45:36Z")
I’ve seen it a few times in the Gulf of Mexico and quite often on various lakes; I would have said it was common on fresh water lakes and rivers. That’s a nice picture, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-seen-sea-smoke-pics/435585/6 "2008-01-30T16:10:00Z")
I’ve seen that, but it was when hot air passed over cold water. Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester, MA in May. It was eerie to see it creep up onto the beach. Nearby [Rockport Harbor](http://www.skipmontellophotos.com/ssgindex7.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-seen-sea-smoke-pics/435585/7 "2008-01-30T18:59:27Z")
I’m never at the beach when it’s cold enough to see it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-seen-sea-smoke-pics/435585/8 "2008-01-30T20:39:38Z")
I saw it very often when in the North Atlantic. I remember making an Operation Northern Wedding deployment in… oh, I’d say about 1987… when the Navy was using the \*USS Nimitz \* to test the feasibility of operating aircraft from our flight deck in an Icelandic fjord. Vestfyord, I believe it was named. On the transit north, and subsequently on our circumnavigation of Iceland, we often experienced sea smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-seen-sea-smoke-pics/435585/9 "2008-01-30T21:54:00Z")
It can often be seen on the Mississippi River here in the Twin Cities in the wintertime. ---
**Author:** ![recondite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@recondite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/recondite)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-seen-sea-smoke-pics/435585/10 "2008-01-30T23:28:07Z")
I’ve seen this over wet fields. There is one section of the highway that’s built like a bridge and there’s a mile of soggy grasslands below. On a sunny moring you will come down from one side of the valley and cross to the other and be just above or under this thin sheet of fog/clouds. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-seen-sea-smoke-pics/435585/11 "2008-01-31T00:15:04Z")
Here’s [another](http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r156/Phlosphr/nothershot.jpg) shot. Damn…it was cold that morning.