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!
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