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.
