Truly Miraculous: South Korea's Sea Crack That Opens Only Twice a Year!
Each year, hundreds of thousands of people gather at the Jindo Sea Parting Festival, held at the southern tip of South Korea. This is because during this period, the sea seems to witness a miracle as it recedes, revealing a natural path connecting Jindo Island and Modo Island. This path, visible for only an hour, offers tourists a unique experience while providing the local population an opportunity to gather mussels and seaweed. The event draws attention not only for the natural phenomenon itself, but also for the cultural narratives it carries.
The festival is held annually between the months of March and June, providing visitors with a four-day opportunity to witness this natural phenomenon.
With the emergence of the path, thousands of people cross over to Modo Island on foot, while the local population harvests seafood in the area where the sea has receded. The event that reveals the path is not actually a complete parting of the sea, but a drop in sea level due to an extremely low tide.
In the meantime, a land strip about 40 to 60 meters wide and approximately 2.9 kilometers long appears. These moments are found to be quite intriguing from both a scientific and cultural perspective.
In 1975, Pierre Landy, the French ambassador to South Korea, announced this incident in the newspaper as "Korea's Miracle of Moses".
However, from a scientific perspective, the cause of this phenomenon is 'tidal harmonics.' The combined gravitational forces of the sun, moon, and earth, in conjunction with their respective positions, lead to exceptionally low tides during certain periods. Much like the cacophony created when out-of-sync drummers' rhythms happen to coincide, different harmonics in this natural event converge to cause the sea to recede.
As a consequence of this sea withdrawal, the area laden with accumulated sediments between the two islands becomes exposed, giving the impression as if the sea has parted.
Another point of interest, just as captivating as the scientific explanations, is the legend associated with this event.
There is an old tale told on Jindo Island, of a time when tigers used to attack the villages. In their fear, the villagers would flee to Modo Island, but an elderly woman named Bbyong was left behind. For days on end, this woman prayed fervently to the sea god, and one night, she dreamt of the sea parting like a rainbow.
To her astonishment, the following day, the sea indeed split in two, allowing her family to return to her. This tale has been passed down from generation to generation and even today, statues of the elderly woman and the tiger can be found along the coast of Jindo. This legend serves to further enhance the mystical atmosphere of the festival.
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