- [Narrator] You can probably think of lots of places that
are great for swimming. Pools, the beach, even comically
small inflatable pools. But in this video, I'm going to tell you about twenty places where
you should absolutely, under no circumstances, ever, swim. Why? Because I'm trying to keep you safe. Also, they're super weird and interesting. (swooshing) (snapping) - I'm acting. - [Narrator] Number 20, Lake Karachay Lake Karachay, a lake in
the southern Ural mountains in central Russia, has been called the most polluted place on earth. During the 50s, when the Soviet Union didn't really care that
much about being super safe with how they dealt with
their nuclear waste, some of it was just dumped into this lake. Some parts of the lake are so irradiated that they would kill you in
an hour if you stuck around. The Russian government has
begun filling up the lake with concrete, so if you
still want to go swim there even after hearing this, you better get there while
you still have the chance. Number 19, The Ganges River. If you ever find yourself in India looking for a place to swim, you better avoid the Ganges River. The Ganges has become so polluted due to India's rapid industrialization, that over six hundred kilometers of it, equivalent to three hundred
and seventy two miles, are ecological deadzones where life cannot sustain itself. Try and not let that life be you. Human and industrial waste is pumped into the river
at a disturbing rate. In places, the river has over 70 times the safe limit of toxic chemicals, and 3000 times the safe
amount of fecal coliform. The Ganges is not only home to a ton of industrial pollution, but is also the final resting place for about forty thousand
cremated bodies every year. So you'd essentially be swimming in a sort of sludge made
partially out of dead people. Overall, research confirms this causes a greater rate of cancer and gastrointestinal disease among people living by the river, and worst of all, since the
river is religiously sacred, people disregard the warnings, believing that swimming in it cleanses themselves of past sins. Number 18 The Boiling Lake. The Boiling Lake in Dominica is probably what you think
it is based off the name, a lake that is straight
up boiling all the time. This is because underneath the water is red hot magma, another thing which, like boiling water, does not sound like it would be fun to touch. While the lake actually
looks kind of appealing, like it would just be a nice hot spring, in reality the water is
roughly ninety degrees Celsius, or a hundred and ninety
degrees Fahrenheit. Number 17 Jacob's Well. Jacob's Well in Texas,
unlike boiling lake, sounds like it would be a pretty nice place to swim, actually. And for the most part, it is. The spot is known for
its crystal clear water, allowing you to look straight down and see way further then you
would in any other lame lake. The dangerous part has to do with the spring's series
of underwater caves and tunnels that lay underneath. Inexperienced divers who
don't fully understand the risks and specialty equipment needed for cave diving in places like this have underestimated the
challenge of Jacob's Well at their own peril, and there have been eight deaths at the site. Number 16, The Nile River. The Nile River is dangerous. Really? Even though in The Prince of Egypt everyone is just chilling in there and leaving babies around? Yes. In reality, the Nile is
full of Nile crocodiles, who use the clouded water
to hide from their prey. Every year, hundreds of people are attacked by Nile crocodiles
in sub-Saharan Africa. For reference, there are
only sixteen shark attacks a year in the United States. So to avoid ending up like a wildebeest on the Discovery channel, you should probably just stay on land. Number 15, Hanakapiai Beach. Hanakapiai Beach in Hawaii is absolutely not where you
want to go on your vacation. It may look like any other
pristine Hawaiian beach where you can go surfing
and wear a grass skirt and whatever, but this is a trap. Underneath, there are very strong riptides that have led to eighty confirmed deaths. The beach is so dangerous that there's even a sign with
a death toll marked on it to scare potential swimmers away. Number 14, Bubbly Creek. Bubbly Creek sounds like
a pretty nice place. It reminds me of something that would be in Lord of the Rings, but in the Shire, not Mordor. In reality, Bubbly Creek is the worst part of the Chicago River. The nearby Union stockyard dumped blood, manure, urine, and various body parts into the river for over a hundred years. The bubbles are a result
of the decomposing meat, since the river's other pollution has made sure that there's
little life in the river to decompose things. One study found that the
layer of animal remains at the bottom of the
creek is three feet thick. Number 13, Samaesan Hole. The Samaesan Hole has been described as a black silty hole of death. It is the deepest diving site in the Gulf of Thailand, with a depth of two
hundred and eighty feet. If you really want to dive into this black silty hole of death you're going to have to
deal with strong currents, oil tankers passing through, poor visibility, and Barracuda. The US Navy also used to use the site as an ammunition dump, so there's always the possibility of bumping into the wrong thing and just blowing yourself up. Number 12, Eagle's Nest Sinkhole. If you were to stand next
to Eagle's Nest Sinkhole in Florida, you would probably think that it was just a pond. However, if you were
to actually dive down, you would see the shaft that
leads to underwater passages, and rooms bigger than football fields. The deepest point is
three hundred and ten feet below the surface. In 1999 it was actually
closed due to 10 deaths. It reopened in 2003 because some people just cannot stop themselves from diving into underwater caves. The caves are home to this now infamous and
genuinely spooky sign. Number 11, Kipu Falls. While I would like to be able to warn you about the specific dangers
of Kipu Falls in Hawaii, it is actually not known what they are. Several people have drowned there, but nobody actually knows why. Witnesses reported people
swimming perfectly normally, and then suddenly
panicking and going under. Their bodies weren't seen until they were pulled
up from the bottom, dead. Some have blamed the
mystic water spirit mo'o'; others speculate that there's
just a whirlpool of some kind. Number 10, The Amazon Basin. There are so many reasons you shouldn't go swimming
in the Amazon Basin. You've got anacondas,
which can stay underwater for ten minutes. You've got red bellied Piranhas, which could tear you to shreds. You've got electric
eels, which can shock you with six hundred volts,
which, for reference, is five times stronger than what you get from the standard US wall socket. While you've probably
heard of those things, you may not have heard of Candiru, which are tiny fish that
swim up your urinal tube. What more reason do you need to never set foot in this water, people. Number 9, Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria in Africa looks like what you would expect a lake to look like. But this is one of the most
dangerous bodies of water on the planet, with an average of five thousand deaths every year. Lake Victoria is so deadly because it has its own mini climate which causes the weather to
change from pleasant to severe in a very short amount of time. Local people have few options other than to try to make a
living fishing on the lake, and the unpredictable
weather often capsizes boats, leaving them with miles of storm between themselves and the shore. Number 8, Horseshoe Lake. It's not the water itself in Horseshoe Lake, California,
that makes it so dangerous. But you'd be able to tell
that something was up way before you ever get to the shore because you'd notice that the lake is surrounded by a hundred
acres of dead trees. A series of earthquakes in 1989 and 1990 caused dangerous levels of carbon monoxide to escape from the earth's
surface and into the air. The area is actually,
for the most part, safe. However, the levels of gas can fluctuate without warning, and there have been several asphyxiation fatalities. Number 7, Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto in Spain at least looks as dangerous as it actually is. The water is blood red due to five thousand
years of mining pollution, so hopefully you'll be scared off before you even dip your toe in it. The river is extremely acidic, and in fact is such a strange environment that scientists study it because
it is thought to be similar to the conditions on
Jupiter's moon Europa. Number 6, Gansbaai. Gansbaai, South Africa, didn't get the nickname
Shark Alley for nothing. Obviously, you should
not be swimming anywhere that is called Shark Alley unless you are a crazy person. They have so many sharks there, in fact, that it's become a tourist destination for the only semi-crazy activity of cage diving with the sharks. If you're looking for sharks, clearly this is the place to be. While the United States
only has .2 shark attacks per every million people, South Africa has .15 per every million. Number 5, Hoover Dam You definitely shouldn't
go swimming in any Dams. To begin with, swimming at places like the Hoover Dam is
actually a jailable offense, so your swim could end
in you getting arrested. But the more serious reason is that there are super strong currents because it isn't a normal body of water. It's a body of water that people made to make electricity. Does that sound like a
safe place to swim to you? Just a few months ago, A
Welsh tourist, Arron Hughes, was arrested for swimming
across the Hoover Dam. Authorities said he was the
only person they knew of that survived such a swim, as others have been sucked into intakes. But there's other things you
can get sucked into as well, like bell mouth spillways. Don't those just look like a fun ride. Number 4, Citarum River. The Citarum River in Indonesia is one of, if not, the most
polluted river in the world. This is largely because
five million people happen to live in its basin, and people tend to produce waste. Imagine what would happen to a river that ran through your room that you've been avoiding cleaning for the past year, for instance. Nearby textile factories
also consider the river to be a great place to dump
large quantities of toxic waste, leading the river to become filed with lead, mercury,
arsenic and other toxins. Number 3, Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon in Buxton, Derbyshire, has a pH level of 11.3, which probably doesn't
mean anything to you unless you're a chemist. Well, the fact that bleach
has a pH level of 12.6 should be a big warning sign. On top of being a body
of water that's closer to being bleach than it
is to being something that would come out of a tap,
it has an idyllic blue color from caustic chemicals in
the surrounding stones. Despite signs warning
people of the danger, people could not help
themselves from taking a dip in its beautiful waters. It got so bad it had to be dyed black to try to discourage
people from swimming in it. If you think about it, that's
actually a pretty great idea that a lot of other places on this list could take a note from. The lagoon is also home to abandon cars, dead animals, and human waste. So Yeah, dying it black
was a good decision. Number 2, Reunion Island. Reunion Island, a French
territory in the Indian Ocean famed for its surfing, has recently become the shark attack capital of the world. Remember back when I
said that South Africa had lots of shark attacks, because it had .15 attacks per million people? Well Reunion Island has 8.28
attacks per million people. The island has seen a record
number of thirty nine attacks, nineteen of which were fatal. While no one exactly knows why the island has become such a hotspot for sharks, it has been speculated that it was due to the creation of a marine reef that attracted more fish, resulting in more food for the sharks. Before I reveal the most
outrageous example oi this list, I'd like to remind you to
subscribe to Be Amazed. We upload amazing
fact-filled videos every day. So don't miss out on learning
some amazing new information. Also, hit that bell icon for notifications on more amazing, fact-filled videos. Number 1, The Strid. The Strid in Yorkshire may just be the most picturesque place on this list, and the least threatening looking. It looks like it belongs on a postcard. Unfortunately, it has in
reality claimed many lives. It reportedly has a one
hundred percent fatality rate for those who are unlucky
enough to fall in. The Strid features a
brutal combination of fast, invisible currents, and underwater rocks for those currents to throw you at. Professor Carolyn Roberts,
Professor of Environment at Gresham College, London, has stated that "It kills
because of its geomorphology, "the form of the channel, "which is influenced by
the nature of the rocks "over which it tumbles and
that vortices in the flow "will trap bodies under the water "close to the bed or the sides, "whilst the turbulence "will render someone
unconscious very quickly. "It's not a good place to play." Worst of all, because it
looks so un-threatening, you can imagine someone
carelessly attempting to jump the river and
slipping into the water. Such a mistake is fatal, and easily made, given the slippery moss abundant around the
rivers bordering rocks. So now you've been warned. Would you still take the risk to take a dip in any of
these bodies of water? Let me know what you think
in the comments down below. Thanks for watching! (gentle music)
Holy fuck, I jumped over the Strid once when I was younger despite my parent's warnings. Chilling to think how close to death I came.