Scientists concerned about whirlpool seen off Wild Coast

Posted on 19 September 2022

A 30m-wide whirlpool in the ocean just off the Wild Coast was photographed by Robert Stegmann of environmental activist group Green Scorpions while on a routine police service air patrol in August, first reported on by Dispatch Live.

According to Kevin Cole, a natural scientist at the East London Museum, the image shows one, or possibly two spinning holes which consist of high levels of energy and are located close to the shore at about 245m off Rame Head point, and poses a danger to ocean uses, reports Cape Town Etc.

Cole said that photographs depicting natural phenomena are important when investigating anomalies along the Wild Coast.

He is investigating whether the whirlpool was created by the volatile, fast-flowing Agulhas current that had come close to the inshore and connected with a longshore drift flowing in the opposite direction, as the two energies displayed by two opposing forces would cause a “violent vortex evolving into a spinning whirlpool.”

However, Professor Tommy Bornman, research leader at the SA Environment Observation Network and coastal ecology expert has a different theory and believes that the Agulhas current was not directly involved, but that it’s rather a sign of climate change. The warming climate’s direct effect on the oceans has caused the Agulhas to heat up.

He added: ‘As it heats up it can meander or broaden. We are seeing more extreme weather and more storm surges and storm winds. When opposing currents meet they are known to generate freak waves and strong currents. It is possible that with exceptionally strong winds, the Agulhas has come in closer and the longshore drift has also become exceptionally strong.’

Bornman predicts that the Eastern Cape coastline will experience more upwellings of easterly winds and sudden changes in water temperature from 26 degrees celsius to 12 degrees celsius and then back to 27 degrees Celsius. This sudden spike and temperature drop cause fish to enter thermal shock and die.

Picture: Robert Stegmann

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