Editing Whirlpool (section)

== Dangers ==
[[File:'Edgard Poë et ses oeuvres' by Lix and Dargent 5.jpg|thumb|An illustration from Jules Verne's essay "Edgard Poë et ses œuvres" (''Edgar Poe and his Works'', 1862) drawn by Frederic Lix or Yan' Dargent.]]
Powerful whirlpools have killed unlucky seafarers, but their power tends to be exaggerated by laymen.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070626043037/http://mythbustersresults.com/episode56 MythBusters Episode 56: Killer Whirlpool]}}. Mythbustersresults.com. Retrieved 26 October 2011.</ref> One of the few reports of a large disaster comes from the fourteenth-century [[Mali Empire]] ruler [[Mansa Musa]], as reported by a contemporary, [[Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari]]:{{quote|The ruler who preceded me did not believe that it was impossible to reach the extremity of the ocean that encircles the earth (meaning Atlantic), and wanted to reach that (end) and obstinately persisted in the design. So he equipped two hundred boats full of men, like many others full of gold, water and victuals sufficient for several years. He ordered the chief (admiral) not to return until they had reached the extremity of the ocean, or if they had exhausted the provisions and the water. They set out. Their absence extended over a long period, and, at last, only one boat returned. On our questioning, the captain said: 'Prince, we have navigated for a long time, until we saw in the midst of the ocean as if a big river was flowing violently. My boat was the last one; others were ahead of me. As soon as any of them reached this place, it drowned in the whirlpool and never came out. I sailed backward to escape this current.'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=646|title=Echos of What Lies Behind the 'Ocean of Fogs' in Muslim Historical Narratives|work=Muslim Heritage |author= Mohammed Hamidullah | access-date=27 June 2015}}  (Quoting from Al-Umari 1927, ''q.v.'')</ref>}}

Tales like those by [[Paul the Deacon]], [[Edgar Allan Poe]], and [[Jules Verne]] are entirely fictional.<ref>[[Paul the Deacon]], ''[[History of the Lombards]]'' (8th century AD); [[Edgar Allan Poe]], "[[A Descent into the Maelström]]" (1841); and [[Jules Verne]], ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas]]'' (1870).</ref>

However, temporary whirlpools caused by major engineering disasters, such as the [[Lake Peigneur]] disaster, have been recorded as capable of submerging medium-sized watercraft such as barges and tugboats.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/11/22/an-end-of-the-world-scene-earth-swallows-lake-oil-rig/2ad5eddb-fbe0-46d3-b8b3-db18bd3266ac/| title = An 'End of the World' Scene: Earth Swallows Lake, Oil Rig - The Washington Post| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>