The bottom of the sea, Davey Jone's locker, a notoriously unhealthy place for a human
being to find themselves.
Yet for thousands of sailors and aviators throughout history, that's exactly where their
dead remains have ended up.
While on land we know that bacteria and insects help break down corpses, what happens when
you die at sea?
Hello and welcome to another episode of The Infographics Show- today we're taking a look
at what happens to your body at the bottom of the sea.
If you drown out at sea, there's actually little chance of you reaching the bottom-
the human body is naturally buoyant enough that currents and waves can keep a corpse
within the upper layers of the ocean for a long amount of time.
This can attract scavengers such as sharks who'll feed on a corpse- specially if you're
involved in a ship sinking or a plane crash who's low frequency sound waves can travel
for hundreds of miles and alert sharks to the incoming human buffet.
If your corpse manages to sink however, it may avoid predation altogether given that
it sinks quickly enough.
The open ocean is split into two biomes, with a great void of water in between the two that
is largely bereft of life- that's the upper surface which has most of the life we're well
acquainted with such as dolphins, sharks, and whales, and then the ocean floor full
of crabs, shrimp, and creatures directly from H.R. Giger's worst nightmares.
For a few hundred meters below and above these two biomes, life flourishes, but the space
in between is often largely free of advanced life forms.
So if your body manages to sink fast enough that it makes it past the upper biome, you'll
hit the bottom intact- but what happens then?
As most people know the bottom of the ocean is very cold- very, very cold, reaching temperatures
between 0 and 3 degrees Celsius (32-37 degrees Fahrenheit), that's in contrast to temperatures
as warm as 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Persian Gulf.
While you've likely been taught that water freezes at these temperatures and thus would
think that your body would turn into an ice cube, the incredible pressures at those depths
actually compacts the salt in sea water which lowers its freezing point.
That pressure also physically prevents sea water from expanding and freezing into a solid.
So you won't be an ice cube, just a very cold, salty corpse.
As you hit the bottom of the ocean the first thing you're going to do is attract the attention
of lysianassid amphipods, tiny shrimp-like creatures that are sort of like the flies
and other insects of the deep ocean world.
These tiny crustaceans have voracious appetites, and like a horde of starving piranhas will
quickly set upon your corpse.
But wait, because it gets worse- these tiny guys don't have jaws strong enough to puncture
human skin, which means they will work their way inside you and start consuming you from
the inside out.
They find access to a corpse through the eyes, which can be easily consumed by the little
guys, nose, mouth, any open wounds and... well your behind.
Once they've worked their way inside they immediately attack the soft organs, and start
eating their way out to the skin.
These amphipods will completely swarm your body, covering every square inch as they try
to find their way to your soft gooey center.
In just a matter of days- between three and four- they will have reduced you to a hollow
shell, leaving behind only bone and tough ligaments and cartilage.
Satisfied and having devoured everything they're capable of, they will leave you behind in
search for other prey, only to leave room for larger prawns such as Pandalus platyceros
to move in.
These guys are the finishers, and come in to nibble on any remaining tough tissues,
leaving nothing but perfectly bleached bones after just 10 days.
This is only in highly oxygenated waters though, such as those found near continental shelves
or with the right ocean currents.
In less oxygenated waters there's less life at the bottom of the ocean, meaning your corpse
can potentially remain in decent condition for a month or more.
However, if you sink to the bottom within a hundred or so miles from shore, you can
expect that there'll be nothing left to recover of you except some perfectly bleached bones
after just a week.
Deep ocean sharks may occasionally swing by and take bites out of you, but largely you'll
be consumed and devoured by tiny little shrimp, horrifically eaten from the inside out.
And that's why our favorite seafood is shrimp- you have to eat them before they eat you!
Want to know what happens to your corpse in other strange places?
Also, be sure to check out our other video Placed Weirder Than The Bermuda Triangle!
Thanks for watching, and as always, don’t forget to like, share and subscribe.
See you next time.