El Ojo, a remarkably circular floating island in Argentina’s Paraná Delta, has become one of the region’s strangest natural sights. Measuring about 120 metres across, the island sits inside an almost perfectly circular body of water and appears to move independently of the surrounding wetlands. From above, the formation resembles a giant eye, which explains the name ‘El Ojo,’ meaning ‘The Eye’ in Spanish. Its unusual appearance has attracted scientists, filmmakers and plenty of speculation about what could be happening beneath the water. Researchers have suggested that a circular water current may be responsible for pushing the floating island around its lake. Yet important questions about its formation, movement and structure remain, making El Ojo an intriguing example of how unusual natural processes can create landscapes that look almost too perfect to be real.
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