Why are people swept away by rip tides never found sometimes ? Does the body sink to the bottom of the ocean once the person drown?
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First, it’s important to understand that when a person dies, the air in their lungs escapes and they initially sink. The reason we think of dead bodies as floating is because over time, gas will begin building up in their internal cavities as bacteria begin to break down the body, which will bring them back to the surface.
Now to talk about what happens to them. Not everything in the ocean is moving towards a shore, as evidenced by riptides themselves. Sometimes objects (including bodies) are instead pulled farther out to sea, which alone can make it difficult to locate them. Once they’re out there, they could also be entirely consumed by an animal, or have enough of them consumed/decomposed that the gasses inside of them are released and they sink once again.
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