falling in the depths!!!!

[Dwellex]

Hi,
I dont know where I can post this question so I posted it here.

Anyway,I was wondering if any of you seen a program on the Discovery channel about the worlds most dangerous jobs which showed Alaskan crab fisherman?

As I was watching,there was a part in which the narrator described the stages of a human falling to the depths of the water. It sounded like:

His foot caught in the line...he struggles...drowning...at 200 feet his eardrums implode...at 600 feet...

I was wondering if anyone could describe the effects and stages of one falling to the depth. I know it's a little macabre but I am curious about de effects of water pressure on the human at different stages of falling to the depths.

Thanks!
Alex

P.S. Please excuse my mistakes,english is my secound language.

 

[RonDawg]

Without a source of air, I doubt that person would still even be alive by the time he reached the 200 foot level.

 

[Xanthro]

Hi,
I dont know where I can post this question so I posted it here.

Anyway,I was wondering if any of you seen a program on the Discovery channel about the worlds most dangerous jobs which showed Alaskan crab fisherman?

As I was watching,there was a part in which the narrator described the stages of a human falling to the depths of the water. It sounded like:

His foot caught in the line...he struggles...drowning...at 200 feet his eardrums implode...at 600 feet...

I was wondering if anyone could describe the effects and stages of one falling to the depth. I know it's a little macabre but I am curious about de effects of water pressure on the human at different stages of falling to the depths.

Thanks!
Alex

P.S. Please excuse my mistakes,english is my secound language.

Not much past your eardrums imploding would happen. You wouldn't be able to equalize your eardrums, so the pressure would rupture them. Beyond that, you'd just basically fill with water and sink.

The gasses in your body would compress, but outside your lungs, there usually isn't much gass. You'd inhale water and drown and sink to the bottom.

Xanthro

 

[RonDawg]

Of course there are the effects of marine life "munching" on the body :11:

 

[Dwellex]

Ok...ok...I was expecting something like in the movie deep star six or something...when the guy ascends super fast and his head blows off!!

 

[SCUBAMedicBill]

I’m no physicist, but since the body is manly liquid and liquid is not compressible, probably not much will happen. The main areas affected by the pressure would be hollow organs which may contain air. Since most of the organs don’t hold that much air, they will just collapse down. The areas that will cause you pain are the ears and the sinuses. More than likely, if you don’t equalize, the ear drums will probably rupture before 200 feet. In both the ears and the sinuses, if you don’t equalize, the inner ears and sinuses will start to bleed internally, filling with blood. The pain that is caused will be short lived and you plunge, and you may not even notice since your will be fighting for your life in order to get free of the line. As for your lungs, the increasing ambient pressure will compress the lungs until there is no more to compress. The increased pressure will also increase the partial pressure of oxygen in your body that will probable momentarily cause your cravings for air go away. This will be again short lived as you either convulse from the too high partial pressure of oxygen, or go unconscious from the decrease of oxygen, which could also cause convulsions. At that point the person will undoubtedly drown and die. Once the person is lying on the bottom, the sea creatures may start their own remodeling process. Depending on how cold it, bacteria which normally live in our intestine will start to digest the body, resulting in gas production. If the body starts to float upward, this gas will expand, causing organs and the body to basically rupture or, if you want, blow up, causing the body to turn itself into chum. Temperature will have some effect on the since cold will retard decomposition. This is way people who drown in the winter, aren’t found until the spring, when the bacteria start to work and create gas. But again, I’m no physicist or biologist. This is just much account.

 

[Kim]

Not much past your eardrums imploding would happen. You wouldn't be able to equalize your eardrums, so the pressure would rupture them.

I'm afraid this is really not true - your eardrums would only implode if you didn't clear them on the way down. I'm not sure of the exact figure at the moment but free divers have been down to more than 400 ft and come back to tell the tale. It takes a lot of practice!! Actually the free divers are not yet limited by the pressure - only how long they can hold their breath.

 

[alemaozinho]

Hi,
I dont know where I can post this question so I posted it here.

Anyway,I was wondering if any of you seen a program on the Discovery channel about the worlds most dangerous jobs which showed Alaskan crab fisherman?

As I was watching,there was a part in which the narrator described the stages of a human falling to the depths of the water. It sounded like:

His foot caught in the line...he struggles...drowning...at 200 feet his eardrums implode...at 600 feet...

I was wondering if anyone could describe the effects and stages of one falling to the depth. I know it's a little macabre but I am curious about de effects of water pressure on the human at different stages of falling to the depths.

Thanks!
Alex

P.S. Please excuse my mistakes,english is my secound language.

i like to eat crabs

 

[liberato]

...at 200 feet his eardrums implode...

That will happen a lot sooner than 200 feet. You can very easily rupture your tympanic membrane at 20ft if unequalized. But since he is already dead from the drowning he probably doesn't care.

 

[RonDawg]

I'm afraid this is really not true - your eardrums would only implode if you didn't clear them on the way down. I'm not sure of the exact figure at the moment but free divers have been down to more than 400 ft and come back to tell the tale. It takes a lot of practice!! Actually the free divers are not yet limited by the pressure - only how long they can hold their breath.

I doubt that someone (especially one w/o scuba or free diving experience) who just got suddenly swept overboard by a line tangled around his legs will have the presence of mind to equalize.