The dangers of the world’s oceans and seas has been well known for thousands of years, and even today the profession of fisherman is still regarded as one the most dangerous. One danger that those traversing the seas may encounter is the maelstrom.
A maelstrom is in essence a large, powerful whirlpool, noted for having downdraft capable for sucking things below the surface of the water. It is the downdraft that is ultimately considered the most dangerous aspect of the maelstrom, as in theory any thing caught in the whirlpool could be sucked down to the bottom of the sea’s floor, and something like a boat would probably never resurface.
The maelstrom is a popular feature for fiction writers, as it offers a real danger to heroes and villains a like. One of the earliest references to a deadly whirlpool dates back to ancient Greece where Charybdis, a sea-monster whirlpool, was a danger to such heroes as Jason and Odysseus. The idea of the deadly maelstrom though was really taken up Edgar Allen Poe in “A Descent into the Maelstrom” (1841) and Jules Verne in “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” (1870). Even more recently Disney used the idea of the maelstrom in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, when the Flying Dutchman and Black Pearl circle each other, as the East India Company and Brethren Court face off.
It is these fictional accounts that have made most maelstroms seem dangerous, although no large ships have ever been recorded as being sunk due to the downdraft of the whirlpool. That though is not to say that small fishing boats or row boats would not be in danger by the likes of Norway’s Moskstraumen or Salstraumen, or Scotland’s Corryvreckan. The Salstraumen is regarded as the world’s strongest maelstrom where 40kph tidal movements can cause a 10m wide and 5m deep whirlpool.
Most people are sensible enough to steer clear of maelstroms, although every year small vessels have to be towed to safety after getting to close to one of the large whirlpools. The biggest danger to the individual though would probably come if they find themselves out of their boat and in the water close to a maelstrom. An experiment undertaken at the Corryvrecken showed how someone falling into the maelstrom could be sucked down to a depth of 262m and then dragged along the bottom of the sea for a couple of kilometres.
The dangers of a maelstrom can be over exaggerated but that doesn’t mean that unnecessary risks should be taken. The major maelstroms, when in full flow, are regarded as not navigable and should therefore be avoided by all vessels.
