Swell travels along routes that follow great-circles tracks. A great-circle track is the shortest distance between two points on a sphere. When viewed on a two-dimensional map, the track appears curved. For very short travel distances, such as the distance swell might travel in the Gulf of Mexico, a straight line on any map is a good approximation of a great-circle track. However, when swell travels great distances over the ocean, the great-circle track is markedly different than a straight line on a flat map projection.
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