Saltstraumen is a sound

Sound (geography)

In geography a sound or seaway is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight and wider than a fjord; or it may be defined as a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land ....

 with a strong tidal current

Tide

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....

 located in Nordland

Nordland

is a county in Norway in the North Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is...

 30 km east of the city of Bodø

Bodø

is a city and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten region.The city of Bodø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Bodin was merged with Bodø on 1 January 1968. Skjerstad was merged with Bodø on 1 January 2005...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. The narrow channel connects the outer Saltfjord with its extension, the large Skjerstadfjord. It is the strongest tidal current in the world. Up to 400 million m³ (tonnes) of seawater

Seawater

Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% . This means that every kilogram of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts . The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml...

 forces its way through a 3 km long and 150 m wide strait

Strait

A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...

 every six hours, with water speeds reaching 22 knots (about 40 km/h). Vortices

Vortex

A vortex is a spinning, often turbulent,flow of fluid. Any spiral motion with closed streamlines is vortex flow. The motion of the fluid swirling rapidly around a center is called a vortex...

 known as whirlpool

Whirlpool

A whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft...

s or maelstrom

Maelstrom

A maelstrom is a very powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water. A free vortex, it has considerable downdraft. The power of tidal whirlpools tends to be exaggerated by laymen. There are virtually no stories of large ships ever being sucked into a maelstrom, although smaller craft are in...

s up to 10 m in diameter and 5 m in depth are formed when the current is at its strongest.

Saltstraumen has existed for some two to three thousand years. Before that the area was different due to post-glacial rebound

Post-glacial rebound

Post-glacial rebound is the rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, through a process known as isostasy...

. The current is created when the tide

Tide

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....

 tries to fill the Skjerstad

Skjerstad

Skjerstad is a former municipality in the county of Nordland, Norway.Skjerstad was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 . Fauske was separated from Skjerstad January 1, 1905...

 fjord

Fjord

Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...

. The height difference between the sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

 and the fjord inside can be up to 1 meter. When the current turns, there is a period when the sound

Sound (geography)

In geography a sound or seaway is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight and wider than a fjord; or it may be defined as a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land ....

 is navigable.

Saltstraumen is popular with anglers

Angling

Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...

, due to its abundance of fish such as saithe, cod

Cod

Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...

, wolffish

Seawolf (fish)

The Atlantic wolffish , also known as the Seawolf, Atlantic catfish, ocean catfish, wolf eel , or sea cat, is a marine fish, the largest of the wolffish family Anarhichadidae. They are commonly sighted throughout Asia...

, rose fish

Rose fish

The rose fish , is also known as the ocean perch, Norway haddock, red perch, redfish, or hemdurgan; it is sometimes mistakenly called bergylt, bream, or snapper....

 and halibut

Halibut

Halibut is a flatfish, genus Hippoglossus, from the family of the right-eye flounders . Other flatfish are also called halibut. The name is derived from haly and butt , for its popularity on Catholic holy days...

.
Coalfish is the speciality for this area. The largest documented coalfish of 22.7 kg was caught in Saltstraumen on a fishing rod.

The Saltstraumen Bridge

Saltstraumen Bridge

Saltstraumen Bridge is a cantilever bridge that crosses Saltstraumen between Knaplundøya and Straumøya in Nordland county in Norway. The bridge is 768 metres long, the longest span is 160 metres, and the maximum clearance to the sea is 41 metres. The bridge has 10 spans.Saltstraumen Bridge was...

 crosses Saltstraumen.

The name

The first element is the name of the district Salten

Salten

Salten is a district in Nordland in North Norway, consisting of the municipalities Meløy, Gildeskål, Bodø, Beiarn, Saltdal, Fauske, Sørfold, Steigen and Hamarøy. The district borders Helgeland in the south , Ofoten in the north, Sweden in the east and Vestfjorden in the west...

, the last element is the finite form of straum, meaning 'stream, strong motion of water'. (See also Moskstraumen

Moskstraumen

The Moskenstraumen or Moskstraumen is a system of tidal eddies and whirlpools, one of the strongest in the world, that forms at the Lofoten archipelago, Norway, in the Norwegian Sea. It is located between the...

.)

History

The remains of a 10,000-year-old hunter settlement in the area are the oldest known traces of human settlement in Bodø, and also one of the oldest archaeological discoveries in Norway. These hunters lived on the edge of the ice, attracted by the abundance of fish due to the strong currents.

Video

External links

• Local Norwegian site with details about the current, in English
• Visit Norway's guide to Saltstraumen
• The complete text of Edgar Allan Poe's A Descent into the Maelstrom