There are regular tourist boat trips between Moskenesøya and Værøy. They can be clearly seen from a plane or the nearby 601-metre (1,972 ft) tall Lofotodden Hill on Moskenesøya. The flow currents are strongest around July–August. The currents are about eight kilometres (5.0 mi) wide and suck in various small microorganisms, thereby attracting fish and fishing boats, which could be in danger even in modern times. It involves strong tidal currents flowing through the shallows between these islands and the Atlantic Ocean and the deep Vestfjorden, creating eddies and whirlpools, the largest one having a diameter of some 40–50 meters (130–160 ft) and inducing surface water ripples up to 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) in amplitude. The Moskstraumen is located between the Lofoten Point of the island of Moskenesøya (in Moskenes Municipality) and the small island of Mosken in Værøy Municipality. Grey and blue-grey colors indicate rough seas. Poe provides an alternative name for the whirlpool with the line: "We Norwegians call it the Moskoestrom, from the island of Moskoe in the midway." Description and mechanism Moskenstraumen maelstrom from a NASA satellite image near Lofoten. This term was introduced into the English language by Edgar Allan Poe in 1841, through his short story " A Descent into the Maelström". It is also popularly known as maelstrom – a Nordic word (malstrøm/malström) for a strong whirlpool which originates from the Dutch combination of malen (to grind) and stroom (stream). The Moskstraumen has been featured in many historical accounts, generally exaggerated. It originates from a combination of several factors, the dominant being the strong semi-diurnal tides and peculiar shape of the seabed, with a shallow ridge between the Moskenesøya and Værøya islands which amplifies and whirls the tidal currents. Moskstraumen is unusual in that it occurs in the open sea whereas most other whirlpools are observed in confined straits or rivers. It is located between the Lofoten Point ( Norwegian: Lofotodden) on the island of Moskenesøya (in Moskenes Municipality) and the island of Mosken (in Værøy Municipality). The Moskstraumen or Moskenstraumen is a system of tidal eddies and whirlpools, one of the strongest in the world, that forms at the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway between the Norwegian Sea and the Vestfjorden.
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