# We Have A Whirlpool



## Rosemary (Jun 3, 2006)

_Read in the Western Australian newspaper today._

   ‘A 200km-wide whirlpool has been discovered west of the Rottnest Island, off the shore of Western Australia.  An estimated 1000 tonnes of fish larvae and plant plankton are caught up in this enormous eddy, attracting rare pygmy blue whales to the area to feed.

   Moving at 6kmh, the whirlpool apparently dragged a 70m ocean research vessel through the water.  Scientist estimate that it forms each autumn.  The currents bring tropical water south along the coast to the deep open trench west of Rottnest, where it spirals anti-clockwise, forming the whirlpool.

   During May, the vortex moved west and was still visible from space six to nine months later in the middle of the Indian  Ocean.  Water on the surface of the whirlpool to 300m deep was between 23 – 24 degrees Celsius last month and butterfly fish, coastal mullet and several whale species enjoyed the balmy conditions.’

_*Once again, it is nice reading about these discoveries when so much of our world is being destroyed.*_


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