Shocking video shows how quickly a 5lb rock completely disappears in Alaska mudflats in stark warning to tourists months after Illinois college student Zachary Porter, 20, got stuck in Turnagain Arm and died
A shocking video demonstrating the power of the deadly mudflats in Alaska has gone viral online months after Zachary Porter, 20, drowned at Turnagain Arm.
The alarming images show how quickly the black, veined mudflats in Anchorage, Alaska, can swallow a five-pound stone.
In the video content, Darren Ak throws a five-pound stone into the mud to show how disturbingly fast it would be consumed.
Once the rock hits the quicksand-like silt, it begins to disappear from view as water seeps up the edges.
Within seconds the rock is no longer visible.
Once the rock hits the quicksand-like silt, it begins to disappear from view as water seeps up the edges
Zachary Porter, 20, a college student from Lake Bluff, Illinois, visited Turnagain Arm with friends in May
“This is where tourists, people, die in the mudflats because of this,” Ak explained in the video posted to his Tiktok account.
“It will suck you in,” he warns.
It comes just months after a 20-year-old man drowned in the famous mudflats of Alaska’s Turnagain Arm.
Zachary Porter, a college student from Lake Bluff, Illinois, visited the tourist attraction with friends in May.
Tragically, Porter became trapped in the glacier mouth and, despite the best efforts of his friends and firefighters, drowned.
His body was not recovered until the next morning.
On May 21, Porter and friends were walking along the mudflats of Turnagain Arm near Hope, a small community of about 80 people an hour and a half from Anchorage.
The group was between 50 and 100 feet offshore when Porter became trapped in the softening silt, Girdwood fire chief Michelle Weston told Anchorage Daily News.
State Troopers said one of his friends called 911 immediately after he was trapped, around 5:45 p.m. When the first rescue teams arrived shortly after 6 p.m., Porter was waist-deep in mud.
Turnagain Arm The 77 km long estuary, carved by glaciers, has one of the fastest rising tides in the world
Tragically, Porter became trapped in the mouth of the glacier and, despite the best efforts of his friends and firefighters, drowned
On May 21, Porter and friends walked along the mud flats of Turnagain Arm near Hope, a small community of about 80 people. The photo shows a view of the small town
The Girdwood Fire Department and two air ambulances were called to assist local emergency responders at 6:13 p.m., Weston said, but when Girdwood crews arrived on the scene at about 7 p.m., Porter was already submerged.
One man Porter tried to save was flown to Anchorage with hypothermia, troopers said.
The fire department is about 47 miles from where Porter became trapped, and Weston said it could take up to an hour to drive there.
The 77 km long estuary, carved by glaciers, has one of the fastest rising tides in the world.
Porter’s father, Todd Porter, paid tribute to his son, saying he loved traveling and the outdoors.
“They were just going to have a little adventure before their summer activities started,” he told NBC Chicago.
Alaska officials believe Porter is the first victim the mudflat has claimed in decades.
“It’s big, it’s amazing, it’s beautiful and it’s overwhelming,” Kristy Peterson, chief EMT at the Hope-Sunrise Volunteer Fire Department, told the Associated Press.
“But you must remember that it is Mother Nature, and she has no mercy on mankind.”
The last known death at Turnagain Arm was newlywed Adeana Dickison, who drowned when her ATV got stuck in the mud and she got out to try to push it, but also trapped herself.