eli5 why are the chances of dying high when you fall into the ocean?

978 viewsOtherPlanetary Science

2 American Navy Seals are declared deceased today after one fell into the Gulf of Aden and the second one jumped in in an attempt to rescue.

I live in a landlocked country. Never really experienced oceans or the water.

The 2 seals fell during the night time. Pitch black. But couldn’t they just yell and the other members could immediately shine a flashlight on them? I know I am missing something here.

Why are chances of surviving very slim when you fall into the ocean? I would assume you can still swim. Is the main cause of death that you will be drifted away by the ocean waves and cannot be located?

Would chances of survival significantly increase if you fell into the ocean during daytime? Surely even with the naked eye you can still see the victim before they are carried off by ocean waves?

Thank you.

In: Planetary Science

15 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Another thing that i haven’t seen mentioned is cold water shock.

If you fully immerse yourself in cold water (i.e. jumping straight into water) you will go into shock within the first minute or so. This can force you to breathe in at an inappropriate moment if you’re diving under to save someone. At which point you will lose any bouyancy you had from your lungs and go to the bottom.

This is why if you get training for sea survival, step#1 is to just try and float there until the shock has passed.

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