Credit: People's Daily/Facebook

A spectacular footage of a massive waterspout over Dalian Bay in China was released by the meteorological authority on Friday. The clip which is being widely shared on social media shows the whirling column of water over the surface of the sea.

According to experts, these mini tornado-like waterspouts are created as a result of showers and thunderstorms and usually form in light wind conditions. In China, people often refer to them as as 'dragon sucking water'.

Watch the spectacular footage here:

In the clip, a massive rotating column of water can be seen rising towards the sky, like a jet launched from underneath the surface of the sea leaving a white trail of mist. The column loses its strength with time and becomes thinner towards the end.

The sight of the incredible natural event left the local people in awe. Earlier that day, another similar waterspout was also seen at around 11 am local time in the Jinpu New District of Dalian.

Waterspouts mostly occur in the tropics regions and are observed throughout the world, including coastal areas of Europe, New Zealand, Australia and Antarctica. They are usually categorized into three types: non-tornadic or fair-weather, tornadic and dnowspout.

While tornadic waterspouts are strong in nature and are capable of severe damage and destruction, fair-weather waterspouts are much weaker and occur due to varying atmospheric activities. The snowspouts, also known as winter waterspout, are comparatively very rare and are formed in areas where the temperature is very low.

The waterspouts can pose a threat to the marine creatures and also to people if they get caught up in the whirling column due to close proximity, while passing by in a boat or an aircraft. The one which occurred in China, however, was a magnificent sight to behold and netizens can’t seem to get enough of it.

“That is very beautiful and cool,” wrote one user. Another one said it was one of the many wonders of nature. Many other social media users, however, found the video scary.