Sunday Snap: Niagara Whirlpool

The whirlpool swirls underneath a cable car.

Despite having been to Niagara Falls a few times, I had never made the stop to have a look at the Niagara Whirlpool, formed approximately 4200 years ago by the upstream erosion of the Niagara Escarpment by the Niagara River. If you visit you can take a ride over the gorge in an antique, open air cable car which has been operating since 1916. The whirlpool naturally spins in a counterclockwise motion during normal flow. When more water from the river is diverted to the surrounding hydroelectric power plants, however, the flow often reverses.