Satellites glimpse ultra-powerful “black hole” whirlpools in Atlantic

[dipsydoodle]

Satellites have shown two mysterious 'black hole' whirlpools in the South Atlantic ocean - ultra powerful “vortexes” which suck water down into the depths.

The whirpools - never witnessed before - would suck down ships, debris and even living creatures, moving 1.3 million cubic metres of water per second.

Two of the black holes - or “maelstroms” - have been sighted in three months by physicists from Zurich and Miami.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/satellites-glimpse-ultra-powerful-%E2%80%9Cblack-hole%E2%80%9D-whirlpools-in-atlantic-151036336.html#90fhFNu

[Stargazer09]

1. My first response?

I immediately wondered if something like these whirlpools could have happened near Bermuda at some point in the past.

When I'm not so sleep-deprived, I will revisit the article.

[Sherman A1]

4. Interesting

thought, that came to mind for me as well.

[msongs]

2. they have debris in them (looks like wood)...wonder if there is independent verification that

these are real

[gtar100]

3. Sounds like a sailor's nightmare. Stuff of legends.

I've never heard of this before except in stories.

[jakeXT]

5. I remember the giant squid stories

Freak waves were also believed to be legends

[Judi Lynn]

6. Good grief! Glad someone finally learned they are here!

It would be good to know if they move around, and how fast.

It wouldn't hurt to know more about them before scheduling a sea cruise in the South Atlantic.

Astonishing. Thank you for this information.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. I strongly suspect that these do not transport anything 'down' at all

The paper is about two dimensional turbulence. The "1.3 million cubic metres of water per second" is "in a north-western direction", it says later in the Yahoo article, not 'down' (or 'up').

What they're saying is that you get a body of water that stays together, the whole thing moving coherently around the ocean, thus potentially transporting water of different temperature or salinity to another area. Anything floating that ends up in it will stay in it. This does not stop fish from swimming in and out of it, however, or ships traversing it. They'd just notice a current different to what they expected.

[ThoughtCriminal]

8. It seems the "journalist" was embellishing more than a little bit

Other articles about these observations do not seem to say anything about sucking down ships.