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Whirlpool

From Openwaterpedia

noun - Whirlpool or maelstrom is water moving rapidly in a circle so as to produce a depression in the center into which floating objects may be drawn.

Usage[edit]

The swimmer had to get out of the water because a whirlpool was ahead near the waterfall.

Synonyms[edit]

eddy, vortex, maelstrom

Maelstrom Seven[edit]

The Maelstrom Seven is a series of seven solo open water swims through, around or near seven famous whirlpools around the world. The Maelstrom Seven was coined by the Hudson Brothers (Wild Swimming Brothers): Jack Hudson (Little Brother), Calum Hudson (Middle Brother), and Robbie Hudson (Big Brother) in 2018 and includes the following whirlpools:

1. Moskstraumen: the strongest and biggest whirlpool in the world whose central whirlpool has a diameter of 40–50 meters (130–160 feet) and tides combined with the northerly Norwegian Sea currents and storm-induced flow result in currents up to 10.7 knots (20 km/h; 12 mph).
2. Saltstraumen: a 0.25 km tidal split with the world's fastest whirlpool] up to 400,000,000 cubic metres of seawater forces its way through a 3 km long and 250-meter wide strait every six hours, with water speeds reaching 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph). The whirlpool swirls violently off the Norwegian coast, above the Arctic Circle and on the edge of the Lofoten Islands.
3. Corryvreckan (from the Gaelic Coire Bhreacain meaning "cauldron of the speckled seas" or "cauldron of the plaid" and also called the Strait of Corryvreckan: a narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba, in Argyll and Bute, off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is called the world's third largest whirlpool.
4. Naruto whirlpools: tidal whirlpools in the Naruto Strait, a channel between Naruto in Tokushima and Awaji Island in Hyōgo, Japan, about 1.3 km (0.81 miles) across with tidal difference of up to 1.5m between the Inland Sea and the Pacific Ocean that causes the speed of the water to reach 20 km/h (12 mph), creating vortices up to 20m (66 feet) in diameter.
5. Te Aumiti: a narrow and treacherous stretch of water that separates D'Urville Island at the north end of the South Island of New Zealand from the mainland coast with tidal flows reaching 8 knots (4 m/s).
6. Old Sow: largest tidal whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere that form an area with a diameter of 76 meters that are located off the southwestern shore of Deer Island, New Brunswick, Canada, and off the northeast shore of Moose Island, the principal island of Eastport, Maine.
7. Skookumchuck: the powerful tidal rapids at the mouths of the Kootenay River in Skookumchuck, British Columbia, Canada.

External links[edit]

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