Sørvágsvatn: The lake that 'floats' above the ocean thanks to a unique optical illusion

Sørvágsvatn, also called Leitisvatn, is a 1.3-square-mile (3.4 square kilometers) lake in the Faroe Islands that appears to float above the sea.

The optical illusion is visible from a limited number of angles along the lake's southern tip.

The trick functions because the lake sits 105 feet (32 meters) above sea level at the top of a cliff that slopes slightly inland toward the lake. Therefore, from a point a few hundred feet out, it looks like the lakeshore reaches all the way to the edge of the cliff, creating the illusion that the water extends over the sea.

Locals disagree about the name of the lake, hence why there are two. The inhabitants of Sørvágur, a village to the west of the lake on the island of Vágar, prefer the name Sørvágsvatn, which means "the lake by Sørvágur." People living in Miðvágur and Sandavágur to the east of the lake on Vágar call it Leitisvatn, or "the lake by Leiti," in reference to a territory in the east of the Faroe Islands.

The village of Miðvágur is closer to the lake than Sørvágur is, but the latter is thought to have been settled earlier during the ninth century, complicating the picture. Another argument in favor of calling the lake Sørvágsvatn is that the Faroe Islands' first settlers divided Vágar into three equal regions — and the lake is situated in the same region as Sørvágur.

But to avoid this debate, locals mostly refer to the lake as Vatnið, meaning simply "the lake."

The lake is surrounded by cliffs, which creates the impression that it is higher above the waves than it actually is. This is especially the case on either side of the lake's primary outlet, a 100-feet-high (30 m) waterfall called Bøsdalafossur, meaning "the waterfall at Bøsdal," referring to the area near the settlement of Bøur.

Discover more incredible places, where we highlight the fantastic history and science behind some of the most dramatic landscapes on Earth.