Old Sow (''Mocinikosk'', in Maliseet-Passamaquoddy) is the largest tidal

whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

, located off the southwestern shore of Deer Island,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and off the northeast shore of Moose Island, the principal island of

Eastport, Maine Eastport is a city and archipelago in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making Eastport the least-populous city in Maine. The principal island is Moose Island, Maine, ...

. It is considered most visible and dangerous three hours after low tide. The name has been in use since at least 1935.Lewiston Evening Journal, "Sea Hogs Drag Fishing Craft to Destruction", July 3 1935

Origin

The whirlpool is caused by local

bathymetry Bathymetry (; ) is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors ('' seabed topography''), river floors, or lake floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of wate ...

and a tidal range where waters exchange between

Passamaquoddy Bay Passamaquoddy Bay () is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of the bay lies within Canada, with its western shore bounded by Was ...

and the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

, combined with the

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

of the location's sea floor at the confluence of the numerous local currents through channels and over small sea mounts. The whirlpools form in an area with a diameter of approximately , as determined by the president of the Old Sow Whirlpool Survivors' Association in 1997 by way of an aerial photograph. The photograph was calibrated using the Deer Island Point Light beacon tower of known width that was included in the photograph. Old Sow is one of five significant whirlpools worldwide (

Corryvreckan The Gulf of Corryvreckan (from the Gaelic ''Coire Bhreacain'', meaning 'cauldron of the speckled seas' or 'cauldron of the plaid'), also called the Strait of Corryvreckan, is a narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba, in Argyll ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

;

Saltstraumen or is a small strait with one of the strongest Tide, tidal currents in the world. It is located in Bodø Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located about southeast of the Bodø (town), town of Bodø. The narrow channel connects the ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

; Moskstraumen, Norway; and the Naruto whirlpools,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

are the others). Although the tidal currents within Western Passage surrounding Old Sow compare with faster whirlpools elsewhere, the speed of Old Sow's vortex is considerably slower than the Moskstraumen, the world's most powerful whirlpool. Tremendous water turbulence occurs locally in the greater Old Sow area, but it does not usually constitute a navigation hazard for motorized vessels with experienced operators at the helm; however, small craft—especially vessels with keels (sailboats) and human-powered vessels—are warned to avoid these waters when the tide is running. Besides Old Sow and its numerous "piglets" (small and medium whirlpools surrounding Old Sow), other area phenomena include standing waves, upwellings (that on rare occasion may even spout several feet into the air), and deep or more, circular and trench-shaped depressions in the water. The failed Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Project/"Quoddy Dam" Project saw a series of tidal dikes constructed during the 1930s to connect Moose Island (

) to Carlow Island (in Eastport), Carlow Island to Pleasant Point and to connect Treat Island (in Eastport) to Dudley Island (in

Lubec, Maine Lubec ( ) is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. It is the easternmost municipality in the contiguous U.S. (see extreme points of the United States) and is the country's closest continental location to Africa. The town, with a ...

). The changes in local water flow from the dikes reportedly reduced predictability of the "funnel" effect of Old Sow.

Accidents

On March 28, 1830, a two-mast schooner was destroyed in the whirlpool drowning brothers Robert, James and William Stover whose widowed mother lived in Fairhaven. Around 1912, Cecil Chaffee of Eastport drowned while rowing near the whirlpool. In 1943 Eastport resident James Roland Mitchell Sr. drowned when the boom of his sailboat knocked him into the waters.http://www.deerislandpointpark.com/Oldsow.html

References

External links

Old Sow WhirlpoolOld Sow Whirlpool Bay of Fundy
{{coord, 44.923852, -66.986561, display=title Bodies of water of New Brunswick Whirlpools Landforms of Charlotte County, New Brunswick Eastport, Maine Bodies of water of Washington County, Maine