The Floating Dead

[DtypeJag]

Is it true that when a dead person has been found floating in a body of water, that it will more often be floating face up if it is a female and face down if male. Could this possibly be true? And if so, why?

It is to be assumed, I suppose, that the person died by drowning rather than killed and then placed in the water. Maybe we just think this is true because of images of Ophelia where she’s always depicted face up.

[engineer_comp_geek]

howstuffworks has an article about this:

In truth, whether or not a drowned body floats faceup or facedown depends more on scientific and forensic factors than the sex of the deceased. The majority of drowned bodies initially float facedown, due to the weight of the arms and legs dragging the body downward. However, people with excess fat in the breasts or stomach may float faceup — making it more likely that women might float faceup more than men.

Additionally, bodies with shorter limbs tend to float faceup. Eventually, though, most drowned corpses will eventually flip faceup — males included — as the undiscovered and decomposing body fills with gases and becomes more buoyant

More info here, including a discussion of the folklore:

Is it true that drowned women always float face-up?

[Ispolkom]

Wow, ignorance fought! Great answer. I especially like the detail about short limbs, for some reason.

[DtypeJag]

Thanks Geek – Sounds like you’ve got it and perfectly logical!

[snfaulkner]

My first thought was, as it is in most instances, breasts.

[kambuckta]

Decades ago when I was heavily pregnant I tried to go swimming in a fresh-water river. But no matter how hard I tried, my body wanted to flip onto my back instead of being able to do a ‘face-down’ freestyle stroke.

Weirdest sensation ever.