# Is it safe to swim in the open ocean 1000 miles from the nearest land? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 7, 2006, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728 "2006-09-07T01:10:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728/41 "2006-09-08T06:44:57Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] [Here](http://www.dixiedivers.com/images/shark%20deerfield%20pier.jpg) [are](http://www.dixiedivers.com/images/Shark%20deerfield%20beach.jpg) a [few](http://www.dixiedivers.com/images/deerfield%20beach%20shark.jpg) [images](http://www.dixiedivers.com/images/Shark%20deerfield%20beach.jpg) of [sharks](http://www.dixiedivers.com/images/shark%20deerfield.jpg) [schooling](http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0329/4326813.jpg) [near](http://www.dixiedivers.com/images/sharks%20deerfield.jpg) [Deerfield Beach, FL](http://www.dixiedivers.com/images/shark%20scuba.jpg). [/QUOTE] :eek: Holy shit! I can’t believe there are so few shark attacks, looking at those pics. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728/42 "2006-09-08T08:38:01Z")
Renee those photos got taken for a reason viz: they are exceptional. ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728/43 "2006-09-08T09:40:42Z")
I found [these pix](http://www.imran.com/creative/photography/stills/SwimmingWithSharks/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728/44 "2006-09-08T09:41:55Z")
[Ye Gads!!!](http://www.apexpredators.com/store/showCategoriesProducts.asp?categoryID=6) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728/45 "2006-09-08T10:20:02Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] Renee those photos got taken for a reason viz: they are exceptional. [/QUOTE] Not an everyday occurrance. They are pictures of an annual schooling and migration off the coast of Florida, as blacktip sharks move north in the spring. The beach was closed as a precautionary measure after the sharks were spotted. [More info here.](http://www.dixiedivers.com/swarms_of_sharks_passing_through.htm) Humans and sharks do swim together more often than we realize. Which only goes to show that sharks as a rule just aren’t interested in human prey. If they were, the numbers of attacks would be MUCH higher. ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728/46 "2006-09-08T11:56:20Z")
I remember seeing a video of a Florida news helicopter flying down a beach. They were low enough that you could see people standing in the water raise their hands to shade their eyes so they could see the helicopter. 30, maybe 40 feet away were sharks ALL THE TIME. The sharks would see the helicopter and get out of there fast. So fast I was amazed. Probably out of view of the camera within 1 to 2 seonds. Hmmm…off to YouTube… -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728/47 "2006-09-08T16:18:27Z")
[QUOTE=Lobelia Overhill] [Ye Gads!!!](http://www.apexpredators.com/store/showCategoriesProducts.asp?categoryID=6) [/QUOTE] Amen. When a dolphin breaches, it’s poetic and beautiful. When a Great White Shark breaches. it is freakin’ SCARY. ::shudders:: ---
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728/48 "2006-09-08T23:07:06Z")
[QUOTE=MandoJohnny] 2. Separation: It is amazingly easy to get separated from safety in deep water. A single sea swell can put you out of site of your boat and with no points of reference, it is easy to get turned around. That is jsut one reason why ship wreck survivors are told to stay together. [/QUOTE] For this reason, when I was scuba-diving from a boat I would always take at least two aids for being spotted: [ul] [li]“rescue sausage”, basically a long orange nylon balloon. Looks extremely suggestive when inflated, but much easier to spot than a diver dressed all in black![/li][li]Rescue “horn” powered from my tank. Makes a godawful noise, but effective in getting attention.[/li][/ul] Even on near-shore dives I always carried a whistle. ---
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728/49 "2006-09-08T23:13:24Z")
[QUOTE=cckerberos] He testified in November of '45. Japan surrendered in August. [/QUOTE] He was called by the prosecution, in an effort to discredit the captain of the Indianapolis. The USN was not too happy about the Indianapolis incident, and they apparently wanted to pin the blame for the whole mess on one of the crew. The captain was their pick; later in life he committed suicide. IMHO, the USN doesn’t have a good record on these sorts of things. In the 70s or 80s an explosion in one of the main gun turrets of the battleship Iowa killed about 40 men. The Naval Investigative Service (NIS) tried to pin this on one of the dead men as a combined murder-suicide. Eventually the truth came out; it was an accident. Interestingly, the Japanese guy was not the only submariner to testify in an enemy’s trial during WWII. Grand Admiral Doenitz was put on trial for war crimes, mostly at the instigation of the British. He asked for a statement from Fleet Admiral Nimitz (Supreme Allied Commander, Pacific) that the German activities in WWII were pretty much the same as the US ones. Nimitz did this; Doenitz was convicted anyway. ---
**Author:** ![SVTSuzie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@SVTSuzie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SVTSuzie)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728/50 "2018-02-23T19:26:10Z")
So what I’m hearing, is that, you cannot swim anywhere in the ocean ,period. When I was a kid I didn’t think twice about jumping into the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean. Now I’m hearing all these horror stories. This really sucks! I mean what’s going on? Also I’m hearing that, all this radiation is still being pumped into the oceans. Hey everybody, do you ever wonder how wonderful it would have been to be swimming on a beach in like say, the 1600s or so!? ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728/51 "2018-02-23T19:53:31Z")
The worst part of swimming in the ocean are the zombies. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728/52 "2018-02-23T20:07:45Z")
We prefer that old threads be revived only to provide new factual information. Since this does not, I’m closing it. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728.md?page=2)