Eli5: If salt is used to cure and preserve food why is ocean water full of bacteria?
In: Biology
When you preserve something using salt, you use massive amounts of it. Brines are often 20% (by weight) salt or more, some fish are dried out by just packing salt around them, etc. The ocean is around 3.5% salt by weight (this obviously varies by where you look and when.)
For comparison, the Dead Sea (guess how it got its name) is about 34% salt by weight, and almost nothing can grow in it. Even microscopic life can barely survive there.
Essentially, while the sea IS salty, it’s nowhere near salty enough to prevent bacteria from growing in it. It is, however, salty enough to seriously harm you if you were to drink seawater rather than actual fresh water.
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