On May 11, residents of southern Singapore woke up to the sighting of a rare waterspout off the coast. Multiple videos of the naturally-occurring phenomenon made their way to social media.

The waterspout – a tall spinning column of water stretching from the surface of the sea to the cloud – was spotted near the Tanjong Pagar terminal. One Facebook user stated that it lasted for around 15-20 minutes.

According to the National Ocean Service of the United States, a waterspout is a “whirling column of air and water mist”. It can either be a “tornado over water, associated with severe thunderstorms”, or a “fair-weather spout that develops on the surface of the water and works its way upward, and usually forms along the dark flat base of a line of developing cumulus clouds”.