Saltstraumen

Just south of Bodø, the Saltstraumen Bridge crosses a narrow channel between two large bodies of water. As the tide changes, enormous volumes of water are pushed through this bottleneck, turning an otherwise quiet-looking strait into a fast-moving surface of currents and whirlpools.

From the shore, the scale is strangely difficult to judge — until a boat enters the frame and the sheer scale of movement is revealed. At their strongest, some of these maelstroms can reach around ten metres across, appearing, drifting and disappearing again as the water moves through the channel. A few hours later the water can appear almost calm again, waiting for the next turn of the tide.