Top5 Secret Points Of Drake Passage That Expose Its Truth

There is a place in South America where ships do not dare to go. Which is called Drake Passage. By the way, every passing second there are 270000 ships present in all the oceans of the world. If seen on the tracker, at this time countless ships are traveling in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. You will notice that these ships are roaming in any part of the ocean without any obstruction. But none of these ships dare to go to Drake Passage. After all, what is there in this place. Which has become a dangerous place for ships. This is what we will know in today’s article. So let’s begin.

5) Incident

This Drake Passage, which has taken thousands of lives for many centuries, made its presence felt once again on 28 November 2022. When the Viking Polaris cruise ship went to show the passengers the unbelievable sights of Antarctica. This 660 feet long cruise ship had just landed in the peaceful waters of Drake Passage when it was suddenly caught in an unusual wave. Although these modern ships are built keeping in mind the safety of the passengers, this wave was higher than Viking Polaris and it shook the ship weighing millions of tons like a paper boat.

The windows of the ship broke. Due to which four passengers were seriously injured and one died. If we look at the data of the last two centuries, Drake Passage has taken the lives of 683 people and there is no record of how many ships have sunk here before this. After all, what is the mysterious thing in Drake Passage that catches the ships coming here and makes it the most dangerous sea route in the world.

4) Features

It looks like a very narrow route. But from Cape Horn in South America to Antarctica, it is a distance of 900 km. The special thing about Drake Passage is that three oceans of the world meet here. Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and South Sea. If we look at the depth of the sea, Drake Passage is 11150 feet deep. Whereas on its left and right side, this sea becomes 15700 feet deep.

The water temperature in Drake Passage is -6 degrees Celsius and this is the only place in the world where water remains in liquid form even when it is in minus. Such extreme cold freezes the body immediately and a person dies due to hypothermia. Apart from this, the weather of Drake Passage is very unpredictable. This is an area where strong winds, waves and storms change very rapidly. At some times it is calm and clear. While at other times it becomes stormy and dangerous. The scientific community has not yet been able to find out the reason for the weather here.

Let us tell you here that the marine life of Drake Passage is no less than a mystery. Because in this area, due to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the creatures that are normally present in other oceans are not found in the sea. Many different marine species are found here. Whose body can easily withstand minus temperature and high pressure. This extreme condition can be very challenging for other marine creatures. That is why there is no trace of them here.

Despite all this, many people also consider Drake Passage a unique and super natural place. Some sailors and travelers have also noticed strange phenomena here. As strange lights are seen in the sky, compass suddenly malfunctions and sounds have also been heard which science cannot explain. It is named after Francis Drake. Who used to be a famous pirate in 1577. But the surprising thing is that Francis Drake himself never crossed Drake Passage.

3) Francis Drake

Francis Drake was a pirate who had the support of the British Queen. He used to loot Spanish ships in the sea. Which was the enemy of Britain at that time. Because Francis Drake had the support of the British Queen. That is why he used to loot any ship or city on the coast in the North Atlantic Ocean. Eventually, he made such a place in the Queen’s heart that he was chosen for a special mission. Britain wanted to enter South America somehow. Because gold and silver reserves were found in the mountains here. Queen Elizabeth planned a mission. In which the British Army was sent to South America with Francis Drake in five ships.

A convoy of 200 people had to cross the Strait of Magellan in South America and reach Peru. Where it was heard that there were huge reserves of gold and the people there were very rich. Francis Drake was leading the British officers in this mission. They could not digest this and they started conspiring against Francis Drake during the journey itself. After reaching the coast of Argentina in South America, Francis Drake accused his fellow British officers of treason and hanged them. He left two ships there and got the remaining three ships to cross the Strait of Magellan and reached the west of South America.

It took him 16 days to reach the Pacific Ocean from Argentina through the narrow path of the Strait of Magellan. But as soon as he went out in the open sea, he got caught in the grip of a terrible storm. Due to this storm, these three ships got separated from each other. One ship reached Britain through the Strait of Magellan, thinking that Francis Drake was dead. The other ship mistook Drake Passage for the Strait of Magellan and went towards it. After that, there was no news of that ship.

After the storm stopped, Francis Drake felt that perhaps he was a little below the Strait of Magellan. He thought that I will go upwards along the shore and enter the Strait of Magellan. But in reality, at that time he was above the Strait of Magellan. So he kept moving towards the North. But he did not find any way. Moving forward, he looted every small and big village and ships coming in his way and kept collecting gold and silver. Finally, he ended his journey by coming to San Francisco.

After this incident, Francis Drake told that an open sea route exists below South America. Which can be used to bypass the Strait of Magellan. Of course, Drake Passage is named after Francis Drake. But he himself did not cross it even once. 40 years after this expedition of Francis Drake, for the first time a Dutch explorer named William Shout successfully crossed the Drake Passage and made a way to go to West America. Which was used until the construction of Panama Canal in 1914.

2) Danger

Now the question is why is Drake Passage considered so dangerous. As you have already known, Drake Passage is a point where three oceans meet. Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and South Sea. When the water of all three oceans meets at this point, its speed increases a lot. Because this path is not much wider than the ocean, that is why when the water passes through here, its speed increases a lot.

Due to the meeting of the three oceans, an astonishing 15 crore cubic meters of water passes through Drake Passage in just one second. That is, 600 times more water than the water that passes through the world’s largest Amazon River in one second. Now you must have got a good idea of ​​how much water passes through Drake Passage. Apart from this, the world’s most powerful ocean current revolves around Antarctica. Which is also called Antarctic Circumpolar Current or ACC. This strong current of cold water keeps moving around Antarctica and due to this the warm water of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean cannot reach Antarctica.

This natural system in a way also protects Antarctica from melting. Otherwise if there was no ACC, the warm water of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean would have melted Antarctica long ago. ACC keeps Antarctica safe by moving in a clockwise direction. But when it comes near Drake Passage, some of its water goes into the South Atlantic Ocean. This is the reason why there is a danger of sudden high waves in this part of the ocean. The biggest issue is that it is very difficult to predict these high waves in advance.

Experts believe that while passing through Drake Passage, the ocean has only two forms here. Which have been named Drake Lake and Drake Shake. Drake Lake means that sometimes there are no waves of any kind here and the ocean is silent like a lake. But when waves are formed, there is no middle level. Rather, they are very severe and this condition is called Drake Shake. This is the reason for most of the accidents here. Because it looks like something else but in reality it is not like that.

No one knows the exact reason why it remains in different forms. But experts believe that perhaps this happens due to the change in weather. The moist and warm winds of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean move towards Antarctica. Due to which a difference of pressure is created in the atmosphere. They think that perhaps this difference of pressure suddenly creates deadly waves of 20 to 30 meters high here. But no scientific evidence of this has been found yet.

Another danger is also being expressed in Drake Passage that when all three oceans meet each other, the direction of all three is opposite to each other. Due to which a whirlpool effect is created in the ocean. Which is called the whirl of water. If a ship gets stuck in it, then it is quite challenging to get out of it and if any dangerous wave is created during this time, then the danger increases even more.

1) Existence

All these phenomena of Drake Passage are beyond the understanding of scientific logic. That is why no one has been able to give a concrete answer to them till now. To avoid these dangers and long route, Panama Canal came into existence in 1914. But even today, super-sized cargo ships and expedition ships turn to Drake Passage.The thing to think about is how Drake Passage was formed. It is said that Drake Passage was formed when Antarctica separated from South America due to plate tectonics. But there is no clear information about when this happened. According to an estimate, all this happened about 49 million years ago.

No matter when it was formed, but as soon as the name of Drake Passage comes to mind, the accidents that happened here come to mind. First of all, let us understand the historical significance of Drake Passage. You know that crossing this area used to be a big challenge for travelers at one time. Not only this, during the 15th to 16th century, when European countries were exploring this area, Drake Passage came to light and since then crossing this area has remained one of the most dangerous tasks of life.