The ice cracks at low tide
Watch the video with sound, best of all in headphones!
In late autumn and early winter you can observe, or rather listen to such an interesting phenomenon: the White Sea crunches and crackles everywhere, although it seems as if nothing is happening. It’s, of course, the ice that cracks, but why is it so slow and motionless?
It’s all about tides. At night, during the tide, it was freezing and the bay was being covered with a layer of thin ice. And all the next day, at low tide, the water was going away, and the ice was slowly being lowered on the rocks, breaking down along the shore with large tile layers. On flat stones, the ice floes remained on top with mirror caps, and sharp ones were surrounded by sparkling serrated crowns.
During the winter, the ice will become thicker and thicker, and we will be able to ride snowmobiles and even dive under the ice! It is true that there will still be breaks in some places, but on the contrary, they will become a landmark for divers: they look very beautiful from below, from under the ice cover. These winter faults are called ridges, and they are formed for a slightly different reason. We’ll tell you more about ridges when they appear on the White Sea! :)