Drinking sea water

[SwimJim]

R U Stupid or what??????????????????????????????????????????

 

[knotical]

From the Times on line:
The French doctor and biologist Alain Bombard achieved worldwide fame in 1952 with a scientific experiment of foolhardy audacity. He set himself to sail alone across the Atlantic in a 15ft Zodiac dinghy in order to show that a human being can survive for weeks if not months by drinking seawater and juice pressed from the flesh of fish.
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From everything2.com:
This came as quite a surprise to many, and is still controversial. He based his findings on studies surrounding the safe intake of salt, and found that a pint and a half of sea water (c. 1 litre) would enhance survival, whilst causing little permanent damage to the kidneys. He was careful to point out that this level of consumption was still dangerous, if it formed the only fluid intake for more than a few days, and at most a week.
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This is no joke at all.
Mr Bombard was pretty famous here at the time, and he risk his life to convince people in order to save life. If it is true then I think it is worth spreading the word.

Bombard drank some seawater, but also rainwater and liquid squeezed from fish. He sailed solo, so no one knows for sure how much he drank of each. He also got very sick doing it. He might have stayed healthier if he’d skipped the seawater.
A scientist would want to see Bombard’s experiment repeated independently by others.

 

[SwimJim]

Sorry didn't read your profile.

 

[ClayJar]

There is actually an optimal amount of sea water to mix in with fresh water to make the maximum amount of liquid. Unfortunately a) I don't know this number and b) it is a small percentage.

From the Good Eats episode "Eat This Rock":

If, however, you found yourself adrift on this fluid desert you could stretch your fresh water supply by mixing approximately three parts of fresh water with one part of seawater. I say "approximately" because salinity does vary from sea to briny sea. Anyway, if you got your percentages right not only would you be stretching your fresh water supply, but you’d be making better use of it.

By consuming some salt, you see, the body would be forced to hold in some of the water to keep it instead of just sweating it out in the tropical heat. That’s why back before sports drinks, athletes used to take salt tablets. Of course, in effect, we’d be making our own sports drink here and we’d be adding electrolytes which your central nervous system would certainly appreciate when the time came to wave down that ship on the horizon or fend off that hungry band of headhunters.

 

[vondo]

That's probably where I heard it. I love that show and the dialog sounds familiar. 3:1 was more seawater than I thought

 

[BIGG_BUDD]

I think there are far more documented cases of death/despair/dementia induced by the consumption of salt water than there are 54 year old experiments by some French biologist proving that it is possible.

But you go ahead and drink up sailor. I'll pass.

 

[travelmadness]

it will dehydrate you and kill you faster than not drinking anything

 

[caseybird]

You can also survive by giving yourself an salt water enema. But I am not sure how a diver floating in the sea could forcefully inject water into the rectum.

You always dive with a buddy, Don't you?

Signed,
not that good a buddy,
Caseybird.

 

[Cheekymonkey]

Think highschool biology osmosis. The easiest thing to travel in and out of your cells is water, so if you up the concentration of other matter outside the sells (ie salt) then water from inside your cells will naturally travel out and dehydrate you.

Not to mention salt water can give you nastier diariah (sp?) than anything you've experienced, and that in turn will dehydrate you further.

 

[Tigerman]

You always dive with a buddy, Don't you?

Signed,
not that good a buddy,
Caseybird.

Haha.. I sure dont want my buddy to start injecting anything into my behind!
And no, I wouldnt drink seawater (only).. Altho the small ammounts of saltwater you might swallow during diving and bathing aint harmful, drinking it sure is..