Imagine, you’re on vacation. No, you’re not interested in beachside hangouts
or big city tourism. You’ve decided to avoid the crowds and go
on a quiet adventure to the mountainous landscapes of Scandinavia. The weather is calm, the nature around you
is breathtaking, and this quaint little getaway calls for one thing: a nice boat trip down
a quiet stream to really take in the views. As you venture out from the land, not a single
wave disturbs your vessel. Nothing speaks of the danger you’re approaching
so unknowingly. But just as you close your eyes and take in
a deep breath of fresh mountain air, you suddenly feel your boat take a turn. Whatever’s pulling you off course only gets
stronger, and your heart starts racing. No matter how much you paddle, all your attempts
to get the boat under control are in vain. That’s when you see it… All the water around you has come alive. It’s not a smooth peaceful surface anymore,
but a bubbling foamy vortex. What’s worse, it’s dragging you right
into the hungry mouth of a giant beast straight from ancient myths! And it has a name: the Saltstraumen Maelstrom… With a name like that, you might be imagining
something like the Kraken. But, alas, you’ve found yourself being sucked
into the world’s strongest whirlpool. “Phew! Don’t need to battle any mythical sea monsters
today!” Hey, don’t let your guard down because you’re
not off the hook just yet! For centuries these whirlpools, or maelstroms,
were a thing of legend. There was no explanation for their existence
and no power that could get an unfortunate ship out of their trap. One of the first and most well-known stories
about this phenomenon is Homer’s Odyssey. It describes a sea beast called Charybdis,
a colossal monster, the only visible part of which was just its mouth. It opened its jaws so wide that it could swallow
ships whole! Inside the beast, there’s only darkness… Is it possible that this image is just an
early interpretation of a maelstrom? Remember, people couldn’t explain what they
were or why they existed, so they came up with epic legends to explain the unknown. But today, science has given us a better understanding
of geological phenomena. Still, that doesn’t mean whirlpools aren’t
a fascinating example of nature’s awesome power! Whirlpools are bodies of spinning water that
flows towards the center where two currents smash into each other. The result is the birth of a vortex. If you look into the eye of the “beast”
you’ll see something strange – the water from one current wraps around the water from
the other. It’s like an intricate dance, both twisting
and turning around each other. In fact, this process is no different from
simple mixing. By nature, streams of water try to mix, but
their force and speed make the whole process much more difficult. This is where turbulences come from. Another thing that can collide with a current
and lead to the creation of a whirlpool is wind. Now imagine when those two forces come together
– wind and water currents whirling around in one spot. Yes, you get the strongest whirlpools out
there! The big ones are called maelstroms. You might think of it like a vile watery tornado
that goes underneath the sea’s surface, but that’s far from reality. The biggest ones are not fascinating because
of their size, but more because they rarely appear alone. They’re more like a system of smaller whirlpools
making the water look like nature itself decided it’s laundry day! Thus, we return to the king of them all: the
Saltstraumen Maelstrom. It’s situated on the northern coast of Norway
near a town called Bodø. Norway is famous for its coastline covered
in rocky fjords. Those are steep cliffs carved by the immense
pressure of icy glaciers. A little more than 2,000 years ago, Norway
was completely covered in ice. But as the climate changed, glaciers started
to melt and move. Their weight was enough to crush rocks and
plow the land as they migrated. This is how the Saltfjorden and Skjerstad
Fjords were born. Between them, a strait appeared – Saltstraumen. This name can be translated as “salty stream”. And that’s probably because every 6 hours,
over 100 billion gallons of salty seawater powers through the current in the strait at
an impressive 25 mph. As a result, the area fills with whirlpools
6 times a day. Sometimes it’s just a couple of big maelstroms,
and other days there are dozens of them. Some can be almost 40 feet in diameter, enough
to fit an entire school bus! The biggest vortices can reach 16 feet deep,
or about the length of your average pickup truck. So, can a thing like that cause any trouble? Well, all I can say is you wouldn’t want
to get in the water near such a monstrosity on your own. The current is ferocious enough to make any
effort to swim away almost completely futile. And a vortex this size will surely drag anyone
underwater within seconds. The water here is extremely cold too, so,
yeah, getting sucked in would be a bad situation to say the least! On the other hand, the Saltstraumen Maelstorm
poses little to no threat to boats or ships nowadays. Going through the strait is absolutely manageable
even in a small motorboat – today’s engines are powerful enough to escape the whirlpool’s
grip. And no matter how dangerous they are, maelstroms
are still a sight to behold. Bodø became a popular tourist spot because
of them. There’s a huge bridge going across the strait,
and it’s now an observation point for awestruck sightseers to witness the power that is the
world’s strongest whirlpool. Another huge maelstrom gained famed thanks
to authors like Edgar Allan Poe and Jules Verne. It’s the Old Sow Whirlpool – the biggest
maelstrom in the Western Hemisphere. It’s located between Canada and the US,
up near Dear Island, New Brunswick and Moose Island, Maine. The whirlpool is a lot bigger than any in
Saltstraumen, but not nearly as fast. Still, a swirling vortex of water 250 feet
in diameter is nothing to scoff at! But even with a mouth big enough to fit the
wingspan of a 747 with room to spare, the vortex itself is rarely visible because it
moves as such low speeds. Aw, disappointing… Most of the time it looks more like something
is lurking underwater. Sometimes it even shoots weak fountains to
the surface so it becomes bloated and unnaturally still. If you’re wondering why the whirlpool is
called Old Sow, there’s a pretty funny story behind that. The constant roaring sound it makes reminded
locals of a pig grumbling. For the same reason, small whirlpools that
appear around the big “sow” are called her “piglets”! I’ve already mentioned Homer, Poe, and Verne,
so you can see just how often maelstroms find their way into our culture. Well, can’t forget about the Far East! You ever admired beautiful works of Japanese
ukiyo-e artists? Their marine landscapes are exceptionally
captivating. One of such masters, Utagawa Hiroshige, once
made a piece called “Naruto Whirlpool, Awa Province”. And guess what? This whirlpool really exists! As it often goes, this one is also located
in a strait. The current running through the islands of
Naruto and Awaji flows at 12 mph. When the spring tides begin, vortices here
can be over 65 feet in diameter, which is about as long as a bowling lane. If you’re interested in having a peek, there
is an observation point from a nearby bridge. That alone is an incredible construction! It’s over 5,300 feet long and looms over
turbulent waters at a height of 135 feet! There’s one more place I’d like to tell
you about, and it’s the Gulf of Corryvreckan. According to one Scottish myth, Cailleach
Bheur, the goddess of winter, used the gulf as a washtub for her plaid. This is where Corryvreckan’s whirlpool allegedly
originates from, if you’re into more mythical explanations, of course! It’s the second largest maelstrom in the
world, and it calms down only for about an hour or so a day. But even without the whirlpool, the current
running through this straight between the Scottish islands of Jura and Scarba can go
extremely fast. So, imagine my surprise when I found out people
actually try to swim across this thing! They’re called “wild swimmers” and the
Gulf of Corryvreckan is a hotspot for them. Instead of simply hitting up the beach or
community pool, these adrenaline chasers specifically hunt for places as dangerous as possible to
swim across! Yeah, well, I bet many have won a Darwin Award
for trying to swim over half a mile to make it across this fast-moving strait! As for those of us who live on the brighter
side of life, I say we stick to admiring these whirlpools from afar! So, which maelstrom would you like to see
or maybe you can recommend another natural phenomenon worth checking out? Let me know down in the comments! If you learned something new today, then give
this video a like and share it with a friend. But – hey! – don’t go wading in whirlpools
just yet – or at all! Instead, we have over 2,000 cool videos for
you to check out. Just click on this left or right video, and
enjoy! Stay on the Bright Side of life!
