00:00A trip to Hawaii may become your last. This is exactly what happened to David Potts, who came to Maui to spend some quality time with his girlfriend.
00:10We all know that the ocean can pose a whole bunch of dangers. Riptides, sharks, poisonous algae, even a seemingly safe sand hole can end your life in a matter of seconds.
00:22Blowholes can do that too. The thing is, they're not frequently spoken of, therefore, many people just don't know that they'd better stay away from them.
00:32Now, let me break it down for you what a blowhole is. You all know sea caves, right?
00:38As any other formation, these grow in size. In case they grow landward and upward, they sorta turn into vertical shafts, exposing themselves toward the surface.
00:48As of now, everything seems fine, no extreme danger whatsoever, right?
00:53But the scary things start if those shafts begin getting hydraulic compression.
00:57In this case, seawater is released through a port right on top of the blowhole.
01:01The result looks like a geyser, and by the way, those blowholes even have a second name, marine geysers.
01:09The height of the spray may vary, and it's up to the geometry of the cave and blowhole, combined with tidal levels and swell conditions.
01:16So what exactly happened to David, who met his early demise in Hawaii?
01:21Those who were unlucky enough to witness this horrible incident said that Mr. Potts had been spotted dancing around one of those blowholes.
01:28He was dangerously close, just inches away from the opening.
01:32Moreover, some people claimed he had even been playing in the sprays of water that were shooting high into the sky.
01:38Then he suddenly disappeared into thin air.
01:41As it was discovered later, he fell into a blowhole.
01:45There were no official statements concerning whether Mr. Potts had passed away or not.
01:49Yet he was never found, meaning his destiny is pretty much clear to everyone.
01:54The story took place back in 2011, so he's definitely not coming back, sadly.
02:00The big question is, who's responsible for this tragedy?
02:04There are no warning signs at the sign, so David could not know how dangerous that innocent fun was in reality.
02:11Moreover, witnesses claim it was slippery there, so it must have been an accident.
02:16However, despite most tourists knowing how notorious this area is, they still continue visiting the site.
02:23No tragic reminders help.
02:27So, how do you save yourself in case you come across a blowhole?
02:31The best way to do that is to keep as far away from it as possible.
02:35If you get sucked by it, your chances of surviving are virtually nil.
02:39Just for comparison, not every tsunami gives you chances this low.
02:44For instance, a one-foot water level tsunami only gives you a .01% probability of passing away.
02:50Even a three-foot water level, when you literally cannot stand on the ground, only says that the probability of passing away is high.
02:58Blowholes, on the contrary, don't give you any chances.
03:02They pull you in once and for all.
03:05But how do these terrifying holes actually work?
03:08Blowholes are most likely to form in places where there are crevices.
03:12A good example of a crevice is a lava tube.
03:15A lava tube, or you can also alternatively hear the name pyroduct, is a natural channel created by the movement of lava from a volcanic vent.
03:24When it's traveling beneath the solidified exterior of a lava flow, when the lava within the tube drains away, it results in the formation of a cave.
03:34Those tubes can often be found along fault lines.
03:37A fault line is a flat fracture in the rock where significant displacement has occurred due to rock movement.
03:43Major faults in the Earth's crust are caused by tectonic forces, often forming at plate boundaries, like those found in subduction zones or transform faults.
03:53The rapid movement of these active faults generates most earthquakes, although some faults may shift slowly without causing seismic activity.
04:01It's known as a seismic creep.
04:04The next ingredient is powerful waves.
04:07When they hit the coast, water gets in those crevices.
04:10But since there's high pressure inside, it bursts out in the form of spray.
04:14To be honest, it's a whole show, as those water bursts are accompanied by a particular loud noise, which makes it very attractive for tourists.
04:24Sure thing, these formations do not only exist in Hawaii.
04:28Probably the most popular blowhole out there is located far away from Maui, in New South Wales, Australia.
04:35There's a small town of Kayama, and only around 15,000 people call it home.
04:41However, this small place attracts myriads of people because of a blowhole also nicknamed Kayama.
04:48This name has a meaning behind it.
04:50It's literally translated as, where the sea makes a noise.
04:54And remember, blowholes are normally accompanied by a particular sound.
04:58The town of Kayama literally makes its living thanks to this unusual geological formation, attracting up to 900,000 tourists each year.
05:08There must be something special to see other than the hole, right?
05:12Otherwise, so many people wouldn't be ready to pay their hard-earned money to travel there.
05:17The blowhole in question can spray water up to 82 feet in the air.
05:21Trust me, if you come close to this place, you'll get thoroughly drenched in water.
05:25While this is not surprising, as we're dealing with the world's biggest blowhole here.
05:29Remember I told you, once you get into the blowhole, there's no coming back?
05:34It's not entirely true.
05:36Scott Gutterson actually ventured inside, studied the blowhole, and even found a secret chamber there.
05:42When he first went down to the bottom of Kayama, he found there a couple of bronze statues, some fishing rods, hats, a pushbike, and even money.
05:51Still, you gotta remember that Mr. Gutterson is a professional, and you should never repeat his stunts.
05:58It's not the only blowhole that the town of Kayama has to offer.
06:02There's one called Little Blowhole, all because of its narrow shape.
06:06The good thing about it is that it's safer to visit than its big brother, but it can promise views as spectacular as the Big Blowhole.
06:14The brothers are a bit far away from each other, though.
06:17The big one is just several feet away from the coastline, and the little one is around a mile south of the main blowhole.
06:24Sometimes, there are fun legends behind those natural phenomena.
06:28You see, modern people can explain why water bursts from underneath the ground.
06:33We know the mechanics and logic behind it.
06:36But in olden times, people were way more superstitious, and it was not only easier to explain various phenomena as something supernatural.
06:44Sometimes, it was the only one explanation available due to the lack of knowledge and equipment.
06:50Thus, La Bufadora, a big blowhole in Mexico, got its beautiful legend.
06:56People used to believe that there was a whale trapped in the rocky point, and that the whale would blow water to attract the attention of its pod.
07:03With time, the whale turned to stone and remained there forever.
07:07Nobody definitely believes in it in the 21st century, but this legend helps attract tourists from all over the world, which locals are very happy about.
07:16You see, La Bufadora is located in a small town 17 miles south of Ensenada, and the blowhole helps create working places.
07:25Locals opened souvenir and food places, and at some point, there were about 150 active businesses not far away from the famous blowhole.
07:34You can often hear that people call La Bufadora a marine geyser, and while some blowholes can be referred to this way, this is not the case with La Bufadora.
07:44This one lacks thermal sources, and thus, it can't be called a geyser.
07:49The water sprout here is the result of air trapped in a sea cave and forced upward.
07:54For it to happen, a wave must push the air into the cave.
07:58As a result, this wave is released in the form of water, recedes, creating that signature spray going upward.
08:05By the way, those sprays can reach up to 100 feet into the air.
08:09The sprays have their own time frequency, too. It depends on multiple factors.
08:13But as for La Bufadora, the range between eruptions is 13 to 17 seconds.
08:18That's it for today. So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
08:25Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side.
08:29Zap hole, I can see that in the 90s, the high screen Ch session looks like they might have a few of them.
08:33Thank you!
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