What is ‘Old Sow’?
Posted by Ocean Facts on 16 July, 2012
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When the tide comes in from the Bay of Fundy, located off the Atlantic Coast between the State of Maine and the Province of New Brunswick, a tremendous amount of ocean water, called a current, flows swiftly into a confined area called the Western Passage before emptying upriver into Passamaquoddy Bay. After making a sharp right turn to the north and traversing a deep trench, flowing past an underwater mountain, and encountering several countercurrents, a portion of the current "pinches off" to form the huge circular current called Old Sow, and, often, several smaller ones, nicknamed "piglets." Circular currents of all sizes are commonly known as whirlpools, vortexes, eddies, and gyres....