What Happens Underwater During a Hurricane?

We are all too aware of the damage a hurricane can wreak on land.  Just look at our current disasters, Harvey and Irma.  Houses and buildings torn apart, neighborhoods flooded, trees downed and lives lost.  It's devastating.  Did you ever think about what's happening below the surface of the ocean, in deep sea, when these storms pass through?

Hurricanes can be death sentences for coral and sea creatures that are territorial, meaning they won't leave their homes to flee for safety.  Slow swimmer, such as the seahorse,  crabs, sea turtles and oysters, are also in danger.  Fast swimmers, like sharks, sense danger and simply swim out of danger's way.  Man-made oubjects, like and long-lost shipwreck can be blasted by powerful, hurricane force currents.  An old sunken ship is likely to be found after a storm, because of the chaos happening below the surface of the ocean.  The wind from the hurricane blows against the water, creating huge waves, which get taller and taller.  The water moves in a circular motion, which sets off another circular motion.  When those orbital motions get near the bottom of the seabed, they flatten out, becoming horizontal.  That creates a lot of stress on the  seabed.  The horizontal motion kicks up sediment and large objects, maybe even an old sunken ship.

Hurricanes are a mixed bag for coral, which protects coastlines from waves and storms.  As the planet and oceans warm, more corals are turning white and dying, a process known as bleachngs.  Hurricanes can cool the ocean temperature, by mixing cold water at the bottom of the ocean with warmer water near the surface.  This is good for coral.  Also, coral depends on high-energy waves to break them up and spread their fragments afar, where they can take root and grow a new reef.  However, hurricanes also rip apart corals and dump huge amounts of ocean sediment in them, killing the coral.

There is great  danger to man, animal and vegetation during hurricanes.  Climate change is in part responsible for the size and strength of the latest hurricanes.  The effect on us all, for our entire planet, cannot be diminished.