A number of Internet users have shared videos and photos of a whirlwind in the middle of the sea on social networks. These images aroused panic, some believing that it was a cyclone.
Hamdi Hached, an ecological activist and expert, gave an explanation to this phenomenon, calling it “marine rush” in the Beni Khiar region in Nabeul (Waterspout).
In a post published on his Facebook page, Hached explained that these natural phenomena generally form when cold air passes over hot waters, and the temperature of sea water is relatively high.
He clarified that this contributes to the formation of an air and fog saturated with rotation water, and that the marine rush is less dense than a cyclone.
He added that the water or the sea water can be sucked up to the base of this rotary column. The phenomenon of marine rod is the most common during the summer in subtropical hot waters, and in the Mediterranean. Some sea thumbs generate violent winds that may damage ships, but others cause no damage.
