Bermuda Triangle and Trouble

There are several physical elements that should be considered when looking into a strange happening or disappearance inside the Bermuda Triangle. Here are three and there are others: The Sargasso Sea, the Gulf Stream and other Atlantic currents as well as the variation in compass readings between true north and magnetic north. And while those three natural problems won’t answer all the questions, they should be considered as part of all investigations into happenings inside the Bermuda Triangle.

The Sargasso Sea is named for saragassum a type of seaweed that covers the whole area and floats on or near the surface. The saragassum covered area of the Atlantic remains placid while the Gulf Stream and other currents swirl around its edges. How this strange bed of seaweed adapted to this off shore area baffles oceanographers as well as other scientists and it remains a mystery to this day.

This quiet sea attracts surface vessels both manned and unmanned. Sailing vessels have been becalmed and could not move. Small powerboats have had their propellers caught up in the seaweed. Some boats were eventually abandoned when the owner could not extricate the boat from the tangled seaweed. Derelict ships have been spotted and boarded to find no sign of life. Salvage crews have boarded and gotten the ship under weigh only to disappear themselves before reaching safe harbor.

Countless theories explaining the many disappearances have been offered throughout history, but the most practical seems to be environmental or possible human error. The majority of strange happenings within the Bermuda Triangle can be attributed to the area’s unique environmental features. It is important to note that the Bermuda Triangle is one of two places on earth that a magnetic compass does point toward true north. Normally it points toward magnetic north and the difference between the two readings can be as much as 20 degrees. If that compass variation is not understood and compensated for, calculations could put the ship or plane many miles off course.

The unpredictable Caribbean Atlantic weather pattern also has a role. Sudden thunderstorms, water spouts and hurricanes often spell disaster for pilots and mariners alike. Then one must consider the topography of the ocean floor that varies from extensive shoals around the islands to some of the deepest marine trenches in any ocean. The Gulf Stream is extremely swift and turbulent and produces strong currents over the numerous reefs, which means the ocean floor is constantly changing and that factor alone makes it capable of moving or even erasing evidence of a disaster.

But at the end of the day questions relating to ghost ships, missing crews and strange lights -- still go unanswered.

Writers Notebook:

Trouble. When I think of that word my first thought usually goes to Meredith Wilson’s Music Man. ‘Trouble in River City…’ and what does that lead to? Conflict. It leads to conflict between traveling salesman Harold Hill and the small town values of River City. And the musical continues to serve up trouble at a very fast pace.

In a Neil Simon comedy it might be a slow boil, but it’s there and Simon is quick to tell you that conflict drives his plots.

Author William Noble believes that good plotting relies on conflict, and there’s no better way to develop it than fastening on one important word: Trouble. Trouble for the characters, trouble for what they seek, trouble for how they go about getting it. If you think of conflict equaling trouble, you’ve got your drama off the ground.

And there you have it, looks like there’s a place for conflict and trouble in most any good story line you can think of.

Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.

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