# If Osama Bin Laden was buried at sea... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258 "2016-02-26T22:39:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/1 "2016-02-26T22:39:07Z")
If the US govt were to the reveal the exact coordinates where his body was dumped in the sea is there any realistic chance that any body part or skeletal remains could be recovered? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/2 "2016-02-26T22:41:35Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/3 "2016-02-26T22:44:27Z")
I cannot believe that anyone who has enough intelligence to ask this question doesn’t already know the answer. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/4 "2016-02-26T22:50:49Z")
The ocean is full of animals that eat meat. Bin Ladin was meat. It’s been 5-1/2 years. Whatever somehow wasn’t scavenged has been scattered by 5-1/2 years of ocean currents. Even at 0.1 mph, that’s enough time for 4,000 miles of drifting & random scattering. There’s a term in aviation for people onboard aircraft that crash in the water: “Purina crab chow.” ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/5 "2016-02-26T22:58:54Z")
I dunno. I think it’s a reasonable question. He was wrapped and weighted, and would have likely sunk directly to the bottom. Depending on where he was dropped, his corpse may not be too disturbed. People buried in dirt, which is also full of meat-eaters, have yet had their remains discovered from thousands of years ago. But, depending on where he was dropped, whatever remains exist may not be retrievable, especially with the technology available to some random group of people looking for them. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/6 "2016-02-26T22:59:12Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There’s a term in aviation for people onboard aircraft that crash in the water: “Purina crab chow.” ♬ _You’re flying across the ocean When you hear your engine spit You see a prop come to a stop The goddamn engine’s quit The ship won’t float, you cannot swim The shore is miles behind [You’ll be a dish for happy fish](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fop_0hfiGQ) But you will never mind_ ♬ ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/7 "2016-02-26T23:07:16Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I dunno. I think it’s a reasonable question. He was wrapped and weighted, and would have likely sunk directly to the bottom. Depending on where he was dropped, his corpse may not be too disturbed. > > People buried in dirt, which is also full of meat-eaters, have yet had their remains discovered from thousands of years ago. > > But, depending on where he was dropped, whatever remains exist may not be retrievable, especially with the technology available to some random group of people looking for them. Except dirt is not the same as water. Yes, there are bugs and worms in dirt. But nothing that can chew through bones. After 5 years of burial you’ll be mostly skeletonized, but your bones will usually be mostly intact. Depending on whatever. But there are creatures that will eat every part of you in that there ocean. And not just your flesh, [your bones too](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osedax). ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/8 "2016-02-26T23:19:10Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > And not just your flesh, [your bones too](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osedax). But that’s the same as the people above who referred to airplane crashes. Unprotected bodies in shallow waters. I’m fairly certain that where ever bin Laden’s body was dropped, it was deep. Honestly, I don’t know if his remains remain, or are retrievable, and I don’t care. I object to the posters acting as if it’s a stupid question. It isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/9 "2016-02-26T23:28:22Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > But there are creatures that will eat every part of you in that there ocean. And not just your flesh, [your bones too](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osedax). The wonders of life never cease to amaze me. A creature evolved to live off the bones of dead ocean mammals, so freaking cool. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/10 "2016-02-26T23:31:30Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I dunno. I think it’s a reasonable question. He was wrapped and weighted, and would have likely sunk directly to the bottom. Depending on where he was dropped, his corpse may not be too disturbed. Why would he have sunk directly to the bottom? Items weighing substantially more than a corpse routinely float hundreds or thousands of miles (see, e.g., the bit of the plane MH370 that washed up last year), and even big ships that break up near the surface can have parts scattered across a substantial debris field. The RMS Titanic’s debris field, for example, is fifteen square miles, and even the two really big pieces of the ship are a third of a mile apart. The SS Daniel J. Morrell broke up and sank in Lake Superior; the two sections lie five miles apart. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/11 "2016-02-26T23:38:43Z")
Displacement is why some things float. You can make something that goes essentially straight down, except for maybe some cross currents, with enough mass in a small enough area. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/12 "2016-02-26T23:42:09Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > Why would he have sunk directly to the bottom? Government reports are that his corpse was wrapped and weighted, as I said in the part of my post that you quoted. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/13 "2016-02-27T00:02:29Z")
[This guy](http://www.wired.com/2012/05/gizmodo-bin-laden-body/) didn’t think it was a dumb question and for a while was getting a lot of press telling everyone that he knew the location and was going to retrieve the body. Needless to say, nothing ever came of it. [See here](http://www.theawl.com/2012/12/the-nearly-astonishing-tale-of-bill-warren-treasure-seeker) for a longer profile of the treasure seeker in question. > [@](#): > > Like the island he once claimed to own, Bill was full of shit. He was a serial blowhard, a self-promoter of the lurid sort, given to puffery and hucksterism so ridiculous you wanted to believe him despite yourself. He had his bad qualities, too. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/14 "2016-02-27T00:07:31Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Government reports are that his corpse was wrapped and weighted, as I said in the part of my post that you quoted. Yes, I got that. “Wrapped and weighted” doesn’t necessarily mean “sink directly to the bottom.” The weights would prevent the corpse from floating on the surface, but sub-surface currents can push even quite large and weighty objects around. How much weight would have to be attached to this corpse that it would sink directly with no chance of being swept up into a current, or even just pushed a few miles on its journey down? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/15 "2016-02-27T09:20:40Z")
who is it that would actually want to recover his remains? Is there a news story behind this question? ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/16 "2016-02-27T09:33:46Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > who is it that would actually want to recover his remains? Is there a news story behind this question? There is obviously money to be made. And who or why can be answered from the number of stories about Hitlers death and resting place. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/17 "2016-02-27T13:15:13Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > who is it that would actually want to recover his remains? Is there a news story behind this question? Carnies. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-osama-bin-laden-was-buried-at-sea/747258/18 "2016-02-27T13:58:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Carnies. Specifically marionette performers. I’d pay two bucks to see a Punch ‘N’ Judy show that ends with a Seal Team Six sock puppet making the Osama skeleton dance.