Scientific Animation of a Bow Wave Created by a Ship by Russell Kightley Media

Doppler Effect: waves emitted from a moving source. Source travelling faster than the waves propagate.

Bow Wave: this animation shows how a bow wave propagates from a ship. The ship pushes the water immediately in front and creates a wave (shown as a series of separate expanding rings for clarity). The wave fronts are shown propagating from their points of origin along the cruise path. As the ship sails forward, so the resulting waves create a swept back triangular expanding wave front (the bow wave).

Compare this situation with that of a plane travelling faster than the speed of sound and creating a shock wave.