# Dex's column on drinking seawater **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 30, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708 "2007-07-30T17:18:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708/1 "2007-07-30T17:18:50Z")
[Linky-poo](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msaltwater.html). I watched the Discovery Channel last night and they had a show about the sinking of the [_USS Indianapolis_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indianapolis_%28CA-35%29). In a nutshell, they were on a secret mission to deliver parts for the bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima, they were hit by two torpedoes, and the ship sunk in shark-infested waters about 12 minutes later. When they didn’t show up in port no one thought anything of it, so these poor boys (average age, 19) floundered in the Pacific Ocean for four days and five nights, freezing at night and baking during the day, no food, no water, before a passing plane spotted them. Of course, some of them, in desperation, drank seawater and died. According to \*\*Dex’\*\*s column, drinking seawater is a definite no-no. I was wondering if this means it’s never a good idea, or if you’re dehyrdrated? If the boys had sipped a bit of seawater now and then before they got dehydrated, could their bodies have handled it better? 1196 sailors. Only 317 survived. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708/2 "2007-07-30T17:30:27Z")
Sea water has a salt concentration of about 30g/l, your body fluids have a salt concentration of about 9g/l. Getting dehydrated means that you have too little water in your body fluids, or too much salt for the amount of water. Drinking water that contains about three times as high a salt concentration than your body fluids are supposed to have clearly makes the situation much worse. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708/3 "2007-07-30T17:38:12Z")
\ Let’s all drink to the moving of this thread to _Comments on Staff Reports_ \ ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708/4 "2007-07-30T17:39:52Z")
Here’s a recent discussion of the topic: [when is it ok to drink seawater or urine - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=427892) ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708/5 "2007-07-30T18:13:57Z")
I’ve heard that seawater can be ‘ingested’ anally without problem, because the intestine only absorbs the water, and not the salt. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708/6 "2007-07-30T18:20:15Z")
[QUOTE=hotflungwok] I’ve heard that seawater can be ‘ingested’ anally without problem, because the intestine only absorbs the water, and not the salt. [/QUOTE] Enema Survival, hmmm…that would not be a prime time show. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708/7 "2007-07-30T18:23:09Z")
[QUOTE=hotflungwok] I’ve heard that seawater can be ‘ingested’ anally without problem, because the intestine only absorbs the water, and not the salt. [/QUOTE] I would like to see how a sailor hanging onto a life raft is supposed to handle this! Regarding the sinking of the Indianapolis…I’m getting two different stories about why they weren’t missed. According to Wiki, it’s because they were on a top secret mission and no one at port was expecting them. According to the Discovery Channel, ships being late was not unheard of during the war so they didn’t worry. Did no one at port face responibility for not raising the red flag sooner? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708/8 "2007-07-30T19:07:00Z")
[QUOTE=hotflungwok] I’ve heard that seawater can be ‘ingested’ anally without problem, because the intestine only absorbs the water, and not the salt. [/QUOTE] So, after a while of doing that, would you end up with an ass full of precipitated salt? Ouch and eww. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708/9 "2007-07-30T20:38:34Z")
[QUOTE=hotflungwok] I’ve heard that seawater can be ‘ingested’ anally without problem, because the intestine only absorbs the water, and not the salt. [/QUOTE] I doubt this very much. My guess is that water would be drawn out of the body to dilute the hypertonic solution in the rectum, hastening dehydration. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708/10 "2007-07-30T20:40:32Z")
[QUOTE=hotflungwok] I’ve heard that seawater can be ‘ingested’ anally without problem, because the intestine only absorbs the water, and not the salt. [/QUOTE] Absolutely not safe. Although it’s true that water can cross the intestine and salt cannot, the water always flows in the direction of the greater salt concentration. This is how most enemas work, you irrigate the bowel with salty water, the salty water pulls water out of your blood and into your bowel, and the (hopefully) rehydrated feces are excreted with a net loss of water. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708/11 "2007-07-31T01:36:19Z")
I have read some survival manuals that suggest diluting seawater 1/10 with freshwater (90% fresh, 10% salt) is even better than fresh as you get back needed salts. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexs-column-on-drinking-seawater/413708/12 "2007-07-31T03:48:21Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] I have read some survival manuals that suggest diluting seawater 1/10 with freshwater (90% fresh, 10% salt) is even better than fresh as you get back needed salts. [/QUOTE] Hm, maybe… this would give you about .35% salinity. Theoretically anything less than or equal to .9% should be OK since that’s the salinity of your blood.