A Canadian hiker posted a video showing the forest carpet "breathing" in and out every few seconds. The footage that went viral depicted the ground moving, giving the impression that the earth is snoring like a sleeping giant.
The peculiar phenomenon that happened in Apple River in Nova Scotia was shot by Brian Nuttall on Oct. 30 when he was out for a walk. Upon seeing the forest ground inhaling and exhaling, Nuttall immediately grabbed his mobile phone to record what he was seeing.
The video was uploaded in social media on Nov. 1. The post has garnered over 14,809 likes and 96,348 shares in Facebook. The video went viral with more than three million views, comments showed people questioning the possible cause of such phenomenon.
"Well? What is it? The wind moving the trees and lifting the sod?," Karen Ripley Congdon commented on the video posted in a public community called 'We Love Nova Scotia', a Facebook Group showcasing photos taken in the province.
Another user, John C. Thompson believes it might be a 'beginning of a big sink hole'.
"It looks like the earth is breathing," a user named Marg Frise wrote in her comment.
According to experts, this event may be caused by tree roots being detached from their moorings. Roots are interconnected underneath the ground and when the trees are caught by the wind, the forest floor would appear to create pulsating movements.
Mr. Nuttall has his own theory on the "breathing" phenomenon when he took the footage. "As I entered a patch of trees spared from clear cutting, I noticed the ground moving," he said in a Facebook post.
"I believe the larger trees are doomed to blow down but are currently spared, the smaller trees around them help hold each other up, as the wind pushes the trees into one another. The punishing prevailing winds have taken their toll on the side hill, the roots have loosened and the mossy ground from the once shaded forest floor are giving way, soon to be toppled over," he added.
This is just one of the endless online videos showing bizarre phenomena. Thanks to feedback from experts and other forest walkers who confirmed that this is simply one of nature's many wonders, we can now breathe as calmly as this forest floor.
