Drake Passage: World's Deadliest Stretch of Water

The Drake Passage is often referred to as the most deadly stretch of water in the world, and rightfully so. It's reported that it's claimed the lives of over 10,000 sailors and 800 ships. Nestled between the southern tip of South America and Antarctica, this 600 mile expanse isn't just a passage, it's a gauntlet. Ships wishing to pass through must survive its screaming winds, ferocious storms, strong currents, and towering waves, a deadly combination which has taken lives as recently as 2022. And then there are the threats of icebergs, some of which NASA have found to be twice the size of London. But before we get into what makes the Drake Passage so deadly and how it produces videos like this, we need to discuss where it is in the first place and who actually discovered it. The Drake Passage is located between the southern tip of South America, specifically Cape Horn in Chile, and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. There is actually a monument at Cape Horn marking the 10,000 sailors who are thought to have lost their lives in the passage, but we'll come back to what took their lives later. At its narrowest point, it stretches about 600 miles or 1,000 kilometers, and it connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. It opened up when the tectonics plates shifted, separating Antarctica from South America. Exactly when is disputed, but it ranges from 17 to 49 million years ago. Its opening allowed for the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, or ACC for short, to form. This is the strongest ocean current in the world, and it flows clockwise around Antarctica. It's unique because it's the only current that flows uninterrupted around the globe. The formation of the ACC altered Earth's climate system by isolating Antarctica, keeping warmer waters at bay, which promoted ice sheet growth and drove global changes in ocean circulation. However, this unbroken flow allows wind and water to build incredible momentum, and then it's funneled through the Drake Passage, creating mammoth waves like this, which we will discuss in much more detail soon. The seafloor in the Drake Passage is complex. It includes ridges and troughs with depths ranging from 11,200 feet to over 15,700 feet. But despite its dangers, Drake Passage is key for shipping routes. For starters, its open water route is essential for large vessels that might otherwise have to navigate more constrained waters, such as the Strait of Magellan. It's equally as important for scientific and tourism expeditions to Antarctica. Its proximity to the Antarctic Convergence Zone, where polar waters meet subpolar waters, makes it an ideal location for marine research. Ships will typically depart from Ushuaia in Argentina, the southernmost city in the world, and cross the Drake Passage to reach Antarctica. Evidently, the Drake Passage is extremely useful, so useful that people are willing to navigate through its dangers. If you're enjoying this video, I'd massively appreciate it if you hit the subscribe button. 99% of you watching this aren't subscribed, so you could be responsible for making that 98%. Now, as I was saying, not all expeditions through the Drake Passage have been successful. The Drake Passage was first discovered in 1525 by Spanish navigator Francisco de Horses. This is why on most Spanish maps, you'll see the region labeled as Mar de Horses. And if there's any Spanish people watching, I'm sorry if I pronounced his name wrong. The name Drake Passage comes from the English explorer Sir Francis Drake, even though he never actually sailed through it. In 1578, one of his ships was blown south of the Strait of Magellan, proving that there was in fact open water between South America and Antarctica, contradicting the belief at the time that there was a land connection. It wasn't until 1616 where Dutch navigator Wilhelm Schutten became the first person to intentionally round Cape Horn and officially enter what we now call the Drake Passage. After his publication of his successful voyage, news spread across Europe that there was an open passage of water south of South America. This was extremely significant, as previous points of access, the Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Channel were narrow in places and hard to maneuver through. However, this newfound route became infamous for shipwrecks and lost expeditions. As I mentioned earlier, it's claimed the lives of approximately 10,000 people and 800 ships. These are just some of the examples contributing to that. In 1741, the British ship HMS Wager became separated from its naval squadron when rounding the Cape Horn in terrible weather. The ship was wrecked on rocks off the coast of Chile and subsequent fighting between the crew led to a mutiny between the survivors. 120 men had been aboard the Wager when it left England, just 10 returned. In 1819, the Spanish ship, the San Telmo, attempted to sail to Peru in an effort to crush the anti-colonial independence movement there. The ship was last seen in the Drake Passage and it's thought to have hit severe weather and sunk with its entire crew of 644 men. And if any of the crew had made it to land alive, they would have been the first humans to reach any part of Antarctica. Into the 20th century now, December, 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 men set sail on Endurance to attempt the first land crossing of Antarctica. However, in January, 1915, the ship became trapped in a pack of ice in the Weddell Sea. For months, the crew endured the Antarctic winter as the ice slowly crushed the ship and it finally sank on November the 21st, 1915. The crew survived for months on the ice on a diet of seal and penguin meat. When the ice began to break apart, they took the lifeboats on a very dangerous five-day journey to Elephant Island, a remote uninhabited island in the Southern Ocean. Sir Ernest Shackleton then took five crew on this lifeboat, the James Curd. They embarked on a 16-day expedition across the Drake Passage to South Georgia Island in an attempt to find help. Their small open boat was constantly battered by large waves and hostile conditions. Astonishingly, Shackleton and his men managed to secure help and rescue the rest of the crew on Elephant Island on August the 30th, 1916. Not a single man died despite over 500 days of being stranded in the Antarctic wilderness. To make the story just that little bit crazier, the ship was found in March, 2022. And as you can see, it was in remarkably good condition. And I know what you're currently thinking. If six men can sail across the Drake Passage in this and survive, it can't be that dangerous, right? Well, in 2022, the Viking Polaris cruise ship was crossing the Drake Passage. The ship was hit by a 16-meter wave just southeast of Cape Horn. It shattered the windows of seven rooms, injuring eight people, and unfortunately, took the life of a 62-year-old woman. Considering advancements in maritime technology, and yet still, the Drake Passage can take lives, it makes Sir Ernest Shackleton's safe crossing seem even more fortunate. But now, what actually makes the Drake Passage so deadly? Remember the ACC I mentioned earlier? Well, this massive conveyor belt moves more water than all the world's rivers combined. And with no landmass to slow it down, the current can flow as fast as 150 million cubic meters per second. Combine this with the fact the Drake Passage is essentially a funnel. The water has no option but to accelerate. This creates engulfing waves, which have reportedly reached a height of 65 feet, which is 19.8 meters. And it's not just the towering walls of water which violently pound the ships as they cross the passage. The lack of landmass also means there's nothing to impede wind flows. They travel thousands of miles around the globe, gathering pace with some reports of gusts exceeding 70 miles per hour. The collision of cold seawater from the south and warm seawater from the north creates powerful eddies, which are essentially a circular current of water. Combine this with harsh winds, the occasional heavy storm, and the huge waves, and you get to experience the sensation known as the Drake Shake. Yet still, there is one more danger lurking. Icebergs. Massive blocks of ice can break away from Antarctica and drift into the Drake Passage. The iceberg you're looking at now is called A76. It broke from Antarctica's Rhone Ice Shelf in May 2021. And when it did, it had a total area of 4,320 kilometers squared, making it larger than the Spanish island of Majorca. Within a month, it broke into multiple smaller pieces, the largest of which was A76a. When I say multiple smaller pieces, in June 2021, A76a measured 135 kilometers long and 24 kilometers wide, meaning it had a total surface area about twice the size of London. This mammoth iceberg drifted 2,000 kilometers away into the Drake Passage. It eventually broke down, but it just shows the sheer scale of potential icebergs which can enter the Drake Passage. All of these obstacles I've just mentioned can each prove to be deadly, but even more so when combined. Captains have to make informed decisions of when and how to cross the Drake Passage. Captain Stanislas Deversin said, "'We have to choose the best time to cross the Drake. "'We have to adapt our course. "'Sometimes we don't head in our final direction. "'We alter the course to have a better angle with the waves. "'We are extremely cautious. "'The ocean is stronger than us.'"