Death to Dust
7. What happens to a body interred in water?
A corpse interred in water becomes an ugly, smelly mess.
Bodies exposed to water decompose approximately four times faster than in earth, and if the water is warm or polluted, the corruption occurs much faster. The corpse's decomposition may be accelerated when it is damaged while drifting along the bottom, by cuts from boat or ship propellers, and even from spear gun wounds in some coastal or inland waters.
Insects also get into the act. Bodies that float near land for even a few minutes will have maggot infestations in all body cavities. Aquatic insects may also feed on the body, but these insects seem to accidentally happen onto the body rather than being attracted by the odor. (Forensic scientists are investigating whether aquatic insects can be used to estimate the time a body was immersed in water).
If a body rests in water for only a short time, especially if the water is cold and contains minimal fish life, a variety of changes can occur. If it is near the shore or rests near a sandy bottoms, sand may wash into the mouth and throat, sometimes forming a hard cast. The skin of the palms and soles initially becomes very wrinkled, called "washerwoman skin" by pathologists, looking similar to a person's hands and feet after spending too much time in a swimming pool or bathtub....
After being in water for hours to days, a corpse's skin becomes white, soft, and extremely unpleasant to sight and smell. In warmer water, the decomposition advances rapidly, with the skin quickly loosening, darkening and becoming stained with blood. The body bloats and the eyes protrude-the typical "floater". Eventually, the corpse decomposes and becomes part of the environment, as the Hindu Rig-Veda recognized :"Go unto the waters, if you are placed there. you must establish the plant with your flesh".
At one time pathologists autopsied "floaters" with gunpowder burning in the morgue to mask the smell. They now put tincture of benzoin on their surgical masks or freeze the bodies for at least four hours to reduce the odor. (Benzoin or similar substances are also used by disaster workers while they search for bodies decomposing under earthquake rubble, at airplane crashes, and in similar catastrophes).
Occasionally, bodies lost at sea become objects of amusement. In Truk lagoon, a world-famous wreck-diving site in the South Pacific, the bones of Japanese sailors were often retrieved as souvenirs by divers or used as props in underwater pictures. This practice stopped in the late 1980s when the Japanese sent a professional diving team to retrieve the remains and bring them back to Japan.
8. Are bodies buried at sea eaten by fish?
Yes. If fish are present to help consume the body, decomposition accelerates a hundred-fold. Fish, crabs and small marine animals quickly begin to feed on the soft parts of a corpse's face. the eyelids, lips and ears are the first to go, and then the eyes, nose and mouth. Dr Carr, former Chief of Pathology at San Francisco General Hospital has said that bodies floating in the cold waters of San Francisco routinely have "shrimps at the orifices".
In some areas of the sea, large fish are scarce, it is the smaller animal life that feeds on the remains. These small creatures, however, are quite efficient. Evidence of this was seen during the recent exploration of fourteen World War II warships recently found undisturbed in 3000 feet of water fifty years after the bloody naval battle around Guadalcanal. As Robert Ballard, the undersea explorer, said, "All that's missing are the bodies of the thousands of sailors".
Larger animals feed on the torso and extremities, with sharks typically removing pieces 8 to 10 inches across. Throughout history, sharks have been found with recognizable body parts in their stomachs, perhaps due in part to the shark's very slow digestion time (8 to 21 days). According to Dr. Joseph H. Davis, Chief Medical Examiner for Dade county, Florida, one shark was caught off the Florida coast with an entire human leg in its stomach-from the hip to a sneaker-clad foot.
Fish do seem to be finicky eaters. Yet occasionally, when through accident or intent embalmed bodies are buried at sea, fish generally avoid them. Although these bodies decompose faster than they would after an earth burial, fish do not like the odor they emit, so bacterial activity and the physical action of the sea cause most of their decomposition.
10. Why do dead bodies float?
Corpses that are purposely interred in the ocean with proper preparation will generally sink, since they are weighted. But those that are accidentally or hapharzadly interred (accidents, drowning, foul play) may float for a while if there is enough air in their clothing to lend sufficient buoyancy. Once the body sinks, it resurfaces when enough gas forms during decomposition to lift what remains. Once it resurfaces, it will sink again only after enough flesh decomposes to let the gas escape.
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