Whirlpools

I realize that this has nothing really to do with my series but after seeing the video about the whirlpool that has developed off the coast of Japan, I have become extremely interested in the idea of whirlpools. They are always something that you hear of in medieval and fantasy stories or in movies about pirates. The idea of an actual whirlpool has a fictional feel to it, so it becomes terrifying yet fascinating when one hears about them occurring in real life. I feel therefore this connects with my idea of taking things that actually exist in the world but making them become part of the subject imagination.

Quotes:

"It is merely a matter of size. If the maelstrom is large enough and the boat or other object is small enough, the object will be drawn down through the vortex along with the water. It is understandable then, that fables exist about large ships being sucked down and eaten up by giant whirlpools, but actual documented cases that we would consider trustworthy do not exist"

 "But most people are more familiar with smaller less dangerous whirlpools that occur in streams or at the bottom of waterfalls. To be sure, these whirlpools can cause lots of problems for watercraft, and they can pull people down and not let them up. So they are dangerous, but not to the scale of a maelstrom whirlpool that can swallow a boat."

"Spiral Wishing Wells." Spiral Wishing Well Coin Funnel. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. <http://www.spiralwishingwells.com/guide/whirlpools.html>.

This article was extremely informative and easy to read about the actual facts of whirlpools. It admits that there are whirlpools that can suck down a boat, but that these are rare. The average whirlpool can suck down small objects like people and rowing boats, but now ships. It also explained how whirlpool form, and why a vacuum occurs.