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Giant Ocean Vortex Discovered

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the holy-overstatement-batman dept.

Darkman, Walkin Dude writes "Dubbed a "death trap" by a team of scientists from The University of Western Australia Murdoch University, CSIRO and three American, French and Spanish research institutions, a 200km in diameter and 1000m deep ocean vortex has been discovered off the Rottnest Canyon. Visible from space, scientists claim is has the potential to affect the local climate and the climate further abroad, the vortex is acting as a "death trap" by sucking in fish larvae from closer to the shore."

5 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. Aw shucks by ENOENT · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's NOT a kilometer-deep whirlpool, sucking ships down to crash on the rocks below. It's just some circulating water.

    --
    That's "Mr. Soulless Automaton" to you, Bub.
  2. Re:What's Causing It? by Tallweirdo · · Score: 5, Informative
    The vortex is probably just a result of the Leeuwin Current (linked article contains satellite thermal pictures showing eddies in the current).

    The Leeuwin Current is a permanent feature of Western Australia's waters and reaches it's peak in the autumn and winter (so it is at its peak now).

    From the linked article "The Leeuwin Current rarely flows around the eastern side of Rottnest, but it frequently bathes the western and southwestern sides, influencing the flora and fauna there. Sea temperatures in those regions in winter are several degrees higher than against the mainland coast."

  3. Re:As seen from space.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    This is the area, take your pick.

    That yellow dot/circle in the middle on the the left panel is Perth, Rottnest island is just a scosh to the left, so Rottnest canyon cant be too far.

  4. Re:As seen from space.... by SEWilco · · Score: 4, Informative
    The canyon is west of Rottwell Island, which is just west of Perth, which is just north of the SW corner of Australia.

    However, the "death trap" viewpoint is somewhat different from this one:

    "The canyon begins at a depth of 50 metres and falls to 5,000, making it one of the worlds largest submarine canyons. It is a fascinating area that annually attracts pygmy blue whales, drawn by an abundance of krill. During summer, as many as 20 whales may be found at one time at this site. The whales eat up to 10 tonnes of krill a day and we want to find out whether there is a correlation between the presence of the canyon and the physical oceanography and the biological productivity of krill."
  5. Re:we promise... by bcmm · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's probably meaningless. You're visible from space, with good enough optics, and a low enough orbit.

    --
    # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
    Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.