The Maelstrom of Saltstraumen is located next to Norway. Currents speeds increase when the tides change, so even a large boat may find steering impossible until the maelstrom subsides. Even now though, small boats could be pulled down and sailors are warned to avoid these treacherous waters when the tide is running. When they sailed the largely unexplored seas, tales were exaggerated of maelstroms and the certain doom of impenetrable ocean depths. A maelstrom, the vortex of a violent turbulence, is the most deadly of all.Īs we believe a black hole in the depths of uncharted space would suck us in if we venture too close, so did ancient seafaring folk believe a giant whirlpool, a spinning vortex, would suck down ships and sailors to their watery demise.
The destructive interaction forms a whirlpool, a powerful circular current of water. Water spins counterclockwise north of the equator and clockwise south of the equator. In the ocean, depending upon the geology of the sea bed, driving currents can collide and create conflicting tidal flows. When moving river water is forced to twist around an object or to stream into a narrower riverbed, the water flows faster and is more likely to create an energetic swirling turbulence. Whirlpools are caused by a turbulent flow of water.