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In Western Passage of Passamaquoddy Bay,
between
Deer Island, New Brunswick, Canada
and
Moose Island, Eastport, Maine, USA,
lies the
Western Hemisphere’s largest whirlpool,
and the second largest whirlpool in the world!
A measurement of the Old Sow was calculated by the President of the Old Sow Whirlpool Survivors’ Association from this aerial photograph that he shot in 1995. The whirlpool’s diameter was determined by comparing it to the known diameter of the white navigational beacon tower (barely discernable in this JPEG image) at the southern tip of the grassy area of Deer Island Point Park on Deer Island.
The well-defined circular area shown here is over 230 feet / 70 metres in diameter. The larger gyre above it, which is not so well defined, continues in a much larger circular motion.
Old Sow creates a depression in the water, but is too large to form an actual funnel; although, numerous smaller whirlpools in Old Sow's sty do create funnels.
Cape Cod Radio Mystery Theater has produced an hour-long, entertaining thriller, entitled The Whirlpool, on CD about the Old Sow.
© 1996 2017 Old Sow Publishing
