Aydın Tiryaki (2012, 2025)

On August 10, 2012, the weather in İnebolu was quite beautiful. Since there isn’t a suitable beach for swimming in the center of İnebolu, we went to the beach behind Evrenye Harbor(1), as we often did. Towards evening, the sky began to cloud over. Shortly after, a faint waterspout formed between the sea and the sky near the harbor. Although we didn’t realize what it was at first, I immediately took my camera out of my bag and went to the small breakwater to start taking photos. I also recorded videos from time to time.

Soon, I noticed that there were actually two waterspouts, a certain distance apart, moving in the same direction.

Because it was overcast and I was constantly focusing on the sky, I had trouble with autofocus. Everything was developing so quickly that I felt I didn’t even have time for manual focus. Furthermore, since I didn’t have a tripod, I tried to take shots by placing the camera on rocks; since there were no flat stones, I mostly took the photos handheld. Despite the difficult conditions, they turned out to be very beautiful photos. The videos, however, were not what I wanted at all; they were very shaky, so the duration of clean and clear video footage was quite short. I took the first photo at 16:32 (2).

During this time, while taking photos, I also watched the activity on the sea and the beach. Small boats appeared on the sea from time to time; those on the boats continued to stay in the water, indifferent to the waterspout. The people on the beach, including us, did not give up on swimming. The mesmerizing sight of the waterspout seemed to have everyone under its spell; it was as if no one thought there could be any danger. I was included in this.

My shooting lasted about half an hour that day. The best part of the photos and videos was the presence of an important object with which I could compare the size of the waterspout: the minaret of the mosque in Çınaraltı, on the eastern side of the harbor. When compared to the size of the minaret, the scale of the waterspout was much better understood.

The waterspout slowly moved eastward and dissipated rapidly when it reached land in the Çınaraltı area. The first waterspout to reach land at 16:52 began to fade and became invisible within 20 seconds. The second waterspout reached land at 16:53 and faded within half a minute. In the photo I took at 16:54, no trace of the waterspout is visible.

During all these observations, the waterspouts were moving at a certain distance from each other, and both could occasionally fit into the same frame. It was such a special day. After the waterspouts faded, another one appeared behind Evrenye Harbor. At that moment, we realized the seriousness of the situation and felt that a major rain was coming. We left the area before we could observe the subsequent waterspout.

I first shared the waterspout on Twitter with a photo (3). I prepared two videos of the most decent ones—one 12 seconds and the other 16 seconds long. As soon as I finished editing, I published them on my YouTube channel that night; because I thought these images had news value and should be shared as a document. Thus, I quickly recorded and shared what happened that day (4).

While writing this article, I wondered if there were any other news or posts about the waterspout on August 10, 2012, and I couldn’t find anything in news sources. The “Waterspout at Sea in İnebolu Evrenye” album (5) that I shared on Facebook that day was shared by many people. Additionally, I came across a video on Facebook of the waterspouts taken by someone else from the direction of İnebolu (6). The conversation of those filming the video is also included.

Because I was not satisfied with the video footage I took that day and lamented, “I wish I had a video camera with me at that time and had filmed the whole event continuously,” I bought a video camera as soon as I returned to Ankara. This way, I would be able to take photos comfortably with my camera and also record high-quality video when needed. However, since then, technology has evolved very rapidly; while an HD-recording video camera was very good back then, 4K video has now become almost standard. When the video quality I obtained with the cameras and mobile phones I used later began to be better than this video camera I had bought, I couldn’t use the video camera much. I only found it more practical for long shoots.

What I experienced then showed once again how quickly and unexpectedly natural phenomena can develop. Watching the formation of the waterspout, I felt both excitement and a bit of anxiety; but I was caught up in its beauty and forgot the danger for a moment. Such events fuel human curiosity and admiration for nature; they also remind us to be careful.

I recorded this interesting natural event of that day in both my memory and my archive, visually and emotionally. I felt the power of nature and human helplessness against it once more. Since nothing bad happened to us, I think we were lucky to be there that day. When I shared these events with the people around me, I saw that they also felt great surprise and admiration. Such events remind us of our place and insignificance before nature; at the same time, they contain the excitement of witnessing such rare moments.

Aydın Tiryaki

Natural Event: August 10, 2012 (İnebolu)
Article: November 5, 2025 (Ankara)

(1) Evrenye is a beautiful and developed village belonging to İnebolu, located 13 km east of İnebolu and accessible via the coastal road.

(2) Throughout the text, I give the time of the events in minutes. I take these minutes, which I use to time the events, from the time information of the photos and videos in my archive. I know these minutes are correct because I frequently check and correct the clock setting of my camera.

(3) Waterspout in the sea in Evrenye, İnebolu (photos: Aydın Tiryaki) August 10, 2012 between 16:50-16:55… https://x.com/aydintiryaki/status/233951667178070016

(4) Links to two videos on YouTube belonging to Aydın Tiryaki’s channel, taken on August 10, 2012 in İnebolu Evrenye, showing waterspouts on the sea:
– Waterspout in the sea in İnebolu Evrenye (video:Aydın Tiryaki) HD 1080
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC7fG-2WLlE
Waterspout in the sea in İnebolu Evrenye -2 (video:Aydın Tiryaki) HD 1080
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4BYAJ5y148

(5) Album of “Water Hose in the Sea in İnebolu Evrenye f: Aydın Tiryaki” https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=aydintiryaki&set=a.10151101762942668

(6) Inebolu-Evrenye Tornado footage 2012 – via Ekrem Ozalp: https://www.facebook.com/yigitinebolu/videos/10151136749985708

Photos: Aydın Tiryaki (August 10, 2012, İnebolu Evrenye)

| aydintiryaki.org | YouTube | Aydın Tiryaki’nin Yazıları ve Videoları │Articles and Videos by Aydın Tiryaki | Bilgi Merkezi│Knowledge Hub  | ░ İNEBOLU EVRENYE’DE DENİZDE HORTUM (10 AĞUSTOS 2012) │ WATERSPOUT AT SEA IN İNEBOLU EVRENYE (AUGUST 10, 2012) ░ 05.11.2025

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A Note on Methods and Tools: The original Turkish version of this work was authored entirely by the author, without any assistance from artificial intelligence. (Note: AI Gemini was utilized solely as a translation and writing assistant to prepare this English version of the original text.)