  The radiation from the mixed layer into the interior of the ocean of
near-inertial oscillations excited by a passing storm in the presence of the
beta effect is reconsidered as an initial-value problem. Making use of the fact
that the mixed layer depth is much smaller than the total depth of the ocean,
the solution is obtained in the limit of an ocean that is effectively
infinitely deep. For a uniform initial condition, analytical results for the
velocity, horizontal kinetic energy density and fluxes are obtained. The
resulting decay of near-inertial mixed layer energy in the presence of the beta
effect occurs on a timescale similar to that observed.
