What happens to the corpses under the ocean?

When a corpse decomposes in the ocean, scientists hardly know what happens to this corpse . To find out, some researchers have done unusual experiments, throwing them into the sea and watching over the video.

Many people have ended their lives in the ocean, possibly by accident, suicide or even being intentionally drowned in the sea, no one really knows what will happen to them, Gail Anderson, an insect researcher at Simon Fraser University in Canada, said. She is the leading researcher on sea corpses.

Anderson and her team had the opportunity to discover this secret, using Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea (VENUS), an underwater laboratory that allows scientists to video and perform other measurements. via the Internet. With that device, all they need is a body.

"Pigs are the best model for humans , " Anderson said. They are about the same size as the human body, they have the same type of intestinal bacteria and they are almost hairless.

In the study, Anderson and colleagues used a remote-controlled submarine to drop three bodies of corpses into the Saanich Inlet area, including one in the saltwater area near Vancouver Island, British Columbia, at a depth of 100 meters.

Later, the researchers observed what happened to these pig bodies via the VENUS camera. They can control the camera from anywhere via an Internet connection and the sensors can measure oxygen, temperature, pressure, salinity and other factors. In the end, the researchers collected bones to learn more.

"Those who eat corpses " under the sea easily see the body. Shrimps, crabs and even lobsters begin to come and poke away the corpse, there is also a shark. The first two bodies were corroded to the bone within a month, but it took several months for the third body to be eaten.

According to the researchers' findings, the third body took longer because of the level of oxygen in the water.

Saanich Inlet is an area with a low oxygen environment, at some point in the year there is no oxygen. When the researchers dropped the first two pigs into the water, the oxygen level was the same, but when they dropped the third pig body, the oxygen level was lower.

Sea crabs eat more oxygen than smaller creatures. But the mouths of the smaller animals are not strong enough to harden the skin of pigs. So if the meat (pig) falls into the water when the oxygen conditions are adequate, the larger animals will eat, and brake the body so that smaller animals can come and treat it. But when the level of oxygen is low, large animals do not come, small animals cannot eat.

"Now we have a pretty good understanding of how bodies decompose under water , " Anderson said. This research helps clarify many mysteries. Knowing how degrading bodies in the ocean also help rescue divers understand their work, the search for corpses, and also benefit the hope of the cities. Family members of those who are missing at sea, Anderson said.