[Lee Stewart]

A maelstrom is, in essence, a very powerful whirlpool or ‘crushing current’. But that doesn’t quite do justice to the sheer force of the maelstrom that swirls and spins at high speeds in the Saltstraumen sound in Norway. It’s officially the world’s strongest tidal current, reaching speeds up to 23 miles per hour (37kmph), or 20 knots in nautical terms.

The whirlpool is fed by waters flowing fast and heavily in and out of a narrow strait that connects two fjords. It’s hard to imagine that any creatures could survive in or even close to waters throttling at such speeds, yet Saltstraumen is teeming with marine creatures from monkfish to huge blue Atlantic wolffish.