If You See This Thing, Don’t Even Think About Going Near

A trip to Hawaii may become your last.

This is exactly what happened to David Pototts, who came to Maui to spend some quality time with his girlfriend. We 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. Blow holes 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. Now, let me break it down for you what a blowhole is. You all know sea caves, right? As any other formation, these grow in size. In case they grow landward and upward, they sort of turn into vertical shafts, exposing themselves toward the surface. As of now, everything seems fine. No extreme danger whatsoever, right? But the scary things start if those shafts begin getting hydraulic compression. In this case, seawater is released through a port right on top of the blow hole. The result looks like a geyser. And by the way, those blow holes even have a second name, marine geysers. The height of the spray may vary, and it's up to the geometry of the cave and blow hole combined with tidal levels and swell conditions. So, what exactly happened to David, who met his early demise in Hawaii? Those who were unlucky enough to witness this horrible incident said that Mr. Pods had been spotted dancing around one of those blow holes. He was dangerously close just inches away from the opening. Moreover, some people claimed he had even been playing in the sprays of water that were shooting high into the sky. Then he suddenly disappeared into thin air. As it was discovered later, he fell into a blowhole. There were no official statements concerning whether Mr. Pots had passed away or not. Yet, he was never found, meaning his destiny is pretty much clear to everyone. The story took place back in 2011, so he's definitely not coming back. Sadly, the big question is, who's responsible for this tragedy? There are no warning signs at the sign, so David could not know how dangerous that innocent fun was in reality. Moreover, witnesses claim it was slippery there, so it must have been an accident. However, despite most tourists knowing how notorious this area is, they still continue visiting the site. No tragic reminders help. So, how do you save yourself in case you come across a blow hole? The best way to do that is to keep as far away from it as possible. If you get sucked by it, your chances of surviving are virtually nil. Just for comparison, not every tsunami gives you chances this low. For instance, a 1T water level tsunami only gives you a 0.01% probability of passing away. Even a 3-FFT water level when you literally cannot stand on the ground only says that the probability of passing away is high. Blow holes, on the contrary, don't give you any chances. They pull you in once and for all. But how do these terrifying holes actually work? Blow holes are most likely to form in places where there are crevices. A good example of a crevice is a lava tube. A 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. When 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. Those tubes can often be found along fault lines. A fault line is a flat fracture in the rock where significant displacement has occurred due to rock movement. Major 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.

The rapid movement of these active faults generates most earthquakes, although some faults may shift slowly without causing seismic activity. It's known as a seismic creep. The next ingredient is powerful waves. When they hit the coast, water gets in those crevices. But since there's high pressure inside, it bursts out in the form of spray. To 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. Sure thing, these formations do not only exist in Hawaii. Probably the most popular blowhole out there is located far away from Maui in New South Wales, Australia. There's a small town of Cayama, and only around 15,000 people call it home. However, this small place attracts myriads of people because of a blowhole, also nicknamed Cayama. This name has a meaning behind it. It's literally translated as where the sea makes a noise. And remember, blow holes are normally accompanied by a particular sound. The town of Cayama literally makes its living thanks to this unusual geological formation attracting up to 900,000 tourists each year. There must be something special to see other than the hole, right?

Otherwise, so many people wouldn't be ready to pay their hard-earned money to travel there. The blow hole in question can spray water up to 82 ft in the air.

Trust me, if you come close to this place, you'll get thoroughly drenched in water. While this is not surprising as we're dealing with the world's biggest blow hole here. Remember I told you once you get into the blow hole there's no coming back. It's not entirely true.

Scott Guterson actually ventured inside, studied the blow hole, and even found a secret chamber there. When he first went down to the bottom of Cayama, he found there a couple of bronze statues, some fishing rods, hats, a push bike, and even money. Still, you got to remember that Mr. Guterson is a professional and you should never repeat his stunts. It's not the only blow hole that the town of Cayama has to offer. There's one called Little Blow Hole, all because of its narrow shape. The 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. The brothers are a bit far away from each other, though. The big one is just several feet away from the coastline and the little one is around a mile south of the main blow hole.

Sometimes there are fun legends behind those natural phenomena. You see, modern people can explain why water bursts from underneath the ground. We know the mechanics and logic behind it. But in olden times, people were way more superstitious and it was not only easier to explain various phenomena as something supernatural. Sometimes it was the only one explanation available due to the lack of knowledge and equipment. Thus, labuadora, a big blowhole in Mexico, got its beautiful legend. People 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. With time, the whale turned to stone and remained there forever. Nobody 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. You see, Labufodora is located in a small town 17 mi south of Ensanada. And the blowhole helps create working places. Locals open souvenir and food places. And at some point, there were about 150 active businesses not far away from the famous blowhole. You can often hear that people call labuodora a marine geyser. And while some blow holes can be referred to this way, this is not the case with labuora. This one lacks thermal sources and thus it can't be called a geyser.

The water sprout here is the result of air trapped in a sea cave and forced upward. For it to happen, a wave must push the air into the cave. As a result, this wave is released in the form of water, recedes, creating that signature spray going upward. By the way, those sprays can reach up to 100 ft into the air. The sprays have their own time frequency, too. It depends on multiple factors. But as for Labouodora, the range between eruptions is 13 to 17 seconds. That's it for today. So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends. Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright