Surviving The Ocean

Surviving The Ocean

Most people have considered what their chances would be if they ever became stranded out at sea, usually before some kind of boat journey in a country where health and safety is not so high on the list of priorities when operating a boating service for passengers.

So, with that in mind and about to embark on a journey in India where the chance of a boat trip is quite high, I thought I would do a little research and publish my findings about how to survive in the ocean if you find yourself lost at sea!

Take a Breath and Relax…

It’s the most commonly known piece of advice but often the least often implemented. You must remain as calm as possible. Panicking will not help at all. You should look around, see what the situation is and think about your best course of action. The next things you should do as as follows:

  1. Stay afloat
  2. Create/build a shelter to guard against the sun
  3. Decide if you think rescue will be on its way
  4. Look for sources of food and water
  5. Staying alive
  6. Getting rescued

Let’s take a closer look some of these points.

1. Staying Afloat

The first thing you need to do is make sure you can find something to get onto, such as a life raft or failing that any kind of debris that floats and you can hold onto. Anything is better than nothing and being stranded without a raft makes life a lot harder.

However, if you do find yourself without any kind of raft there are two techniques to use to conserve energy:

1. Float on your back in a star shape when the water is calm. This will conserve energy and if you can’t see land then you are going to have difficulty swimming for it and you would run out of energy. Stay floating and hope rescue arrives or you float towards land

2. If the sea is rough you should lie face down in the water and exhale when you are face down.

Life Float for Rescue

Life Float

Then bring your head up to take a breath when you need to. Lying face down and exhaling underwater will help to relax you as you are not so aware of the water splashing over your face.

2. Shelter

Your second task is to try and create some kind of shelter for yourself to safe-guard against the sun and adverse weather. If you have a life boat you are OK because it should have sides and you can sit inside. If it’s cold this will help keep you warm and if it’s hot in the day this should help protect you from the sun.

3. Rescue

Decide if you think you should just stay put and wait for rescue or make more of an effort to find your way to land. If you are in a more developed country it is likely that you are going to have a search party out looking for you very quickly. If not, then you should consider you options for finding land.

4. Food and Water

It’s really important to locate water ASAP because you can’t survive long without it. Ideally you would find some kind of floating water bottles full of water but that’s a bit of a long shot…So, you have a few options


Fishing for food

Recycled Water – Your own urine can be used as a water source. It’s not pleasant but in a life of death situation you have to do whatever you need to. However, this is not a great option and should only be used as a last resort because it can cause more severe hydration due to the salts in it.

Rain Water – Catch as much of it as you can because it’s a great source of water. After catching it, try to keep a lid or cover over it to prevent it from evaporating.

Fishy Fluids – Fish are good for eating and hydrating. If you cut one open and drink from the spine area, eyes and flesh you should get some much needed fluids.

Sea Water – Most people recommend against this as it is so salty but it is an option if you have nothing else. Some people argue that the body is able to survive on salt water from the ocean.

Fish – As mentioned already fish are a great source of food. If you don’t have any water, though, eating might not be such a good idea as it requires water to digest. Only eat when you absolutely need to. You can last a long time without food.

5. Staying Alive

If you are in waters where there are predators like sharks you need to be careful not to release any blood into the water because they will sense it from many miles away and come to see what they can find. Try to stay away from the water if you have any kind of open wound.

6. Getting Rescued

You should try to do as much as possible to make yourself visible from the air if you think they will be searching for you. Any kind of flare gun or bright colured material should be kept ready to wave and use when appropriate.

Images courtesy of Salvatore Vuono, cbenjasuwan and bplanet /

Read More

How to Purify Water

How to Purify Water

Water is essential to life. Our bodies are approximately 90% water. Just a couple of days without water and you could be dead, but you can survive for many more days without food. Dehydration is a killer and affects how your body functions within hours of becoming dehydrated.

Yet there are many places in the World without clean water. Those who are explorers are more likely to understand ways in which they can purify water and make it suitable for drinking, therefore potentially saving their life if they were ever in a situation without access to clean water.

Carrying water is a bit of a pain because it is so heavy. So you would want to only carry a small amount and rely upon your knowledge of the area in order to know where there were fresh water lakes to get a refill. You could also rely on your skills to purify water.

If you are out in the wild you have three options for purifying your water before you can drink it:

  1. Boiling
  2. Use of chemicals
  3. Filtration

Let’s look at each of the in turn.


As any parent should already know, you would always boil water before giving it to your baby. The process of boiling kills off any germs and bacteria in the water which might harm you. The same is

Boiling Water in Kettle

Boil you water

true when you don’t have access to clean water, you can try boiling it. Doing so for 10 minutes should make the water drinkable and prevent you from catching a nasty bug.

When you have boiled it, let it rest and then give it a quick shake to make it a little oxygenated again otherwise it will taste pretty flat.


Iodine is the usual chemical used to make dirty water drinkable. It can take up to half and hour to work and can leave a nasty taste. However, there are additional tablets which help to mask that horrible taste and smell. It’s a very effective method to cleanse the water and the tablets are very compact and lightweight which means you can transport them very easily.


If you have very dirty water you can use a filter to remove the larger, unwanted particles and then perhaps use another method to make the water cleaner. This is a great initial first step and the filter is usually going to be very small so it’s not difficult to carry with you.


When you are out searching for water it is best to try and take the water from as close to a source as possible. For example, a spring which comes directly out of the ground is where you want to get the water from because it is less likely to have been contaminated when you get it.

Fresh Water Spring

Fresh Water Spring

If you are drinking from further downstream of the source you have to be aware that anything could be in the water. Common issues arise from dead animals in the water which then contaminates any water downstream from that point.

Always try to find running water wherever possible because it is less likely to contain contaminates that result from stagnant water sources. If you have to take water from a stagnant source use a large vessel and then allow it to stand for a while so that the sediment sinks to the bottom and anything which floats can be scrapped off the top surface of the water.

Image courtesy of Exodus, smokedsalmon and John Kasawa /

Read More

The Causes of Global Warming

The Causes of Global Warming


What Causes Global Warming?



Co2 Emissions



Final Thoughts


Read More

Health Dangers of Global Warming

Health Dangers of Global Warming

What is Global Warming?


Industrialization and Human Health


Factory Fumes

Industrialization and Global Warming



Natural Combatants to Global Warming



Read More

Children’s Health

Children’s Health









Lead by Example




Good luck!

Image courtesy of NayPong /

Read More

How to Stay Healthy

How to Stay Healthy



Dry Infertile Soil

Bad soil = bad crop







Moving Forwards




Images courtesy of Simon Howden and Kittikun Atsawintarangkul /

Read More

Rising Sea Levels

Rising Sea Levels

It’s a question that causes much debate among people world over and also the scientists. Not everyone agrees and the fact that neither do the scientists causes much confusion and makes it unclear as to whether we should be worried about the human impact on rising sea levels.

There is mounting evidence that the sea levels are rising, however. It’s thought that the levels will continue to rise as the years go on. Researchers have shown that sea levels rose very little between 0 AD and the turn of the 20th century. However, from then global ocean levels rose and are continuing to do so.

There are two reasons that contribute to rising sea levels:

1. As the oceans warm they expand, this is just because water expands when it heats and contracts when it is colder.

2. The loss of ice results in more water in the oceans and therefore an increase in volume and rising sea levels.

The seas are rising at the rate of about 3mm per year.

Scientists Studies

Around 20 or so research scientists have looked into the rising sea levels around the both poles in order to try and come up with some conclusive evidence about whether or not the icecaps are melting and contributing significantly to rising sea levels.

Trying to understand fully exactly what is happening is no easy task because it is so difficult to measure what is happening with the ice, snow and land in a reliable method. It’s also very challenging to get access to these remote places to measure accurately.

BBC Image Showing Rising Sea Levels

Image courtesy of

The Risks

Many cities and populations will be at risk from rising sea levels because they are on low lying land. For example, the Netherlands and London mainly reside on the flood plains of large rivers and the sea.

The Results

The researchers found that some areas of ice were actually increasing in size while others were decreasing. However, the rate of decrease is higher than the others are increasing, therefore resulting in a net loss.

The conclusion was that the ice sheets melting have causes around 11mm of sea level rise, but it could be up to 4mm more or less than that in reality.

Image courtesy of CNaene /

Read More

Human Health and The Ocean

Human Health and The Ocean

Humans do not naturally feel at home in the ocean because we are not adapted for life there. However, Man kind has long used the sea for many reasons. The oceans of the World occupy more space on Earth than land. We have used the seas for many years as a means of transport and also for a source of food.

In more modern times we use the marine life to produce pharmaceuticals in order to improve our health and cure many of our ailments. But the use of the oceans is not limited to medicine and transport. We also use them for recreation with sports such as surfing, windsurfing and sailing.

For centuries fishermen have caught fish in the oceans and made successful businesses from it so it is also a valuable economic asset which can be used. We must be careful, though, not to overuse it and exhaust the already dwindling numbers of species which are found in the oceans.

Oregon State University have published numerous studies on the importance of ocean health, safety and how useful it is in the environment.

Wealth and Oceans

As you might expect, countries who are poor or who have suffered many years of recent war are not likely to spend much money on ensuring the cleanliness of their oceans. Likewise, those countries which are going through economic growth and especially those which rely on more industrial industries for their economy are probably more likely to be polluting the oceans which surround them.

It could also be expected that the wealthiest nations would be the ones who have the best kept and least polluted seas surrounding their land. Unfortunately this is not the case. Many of the more advanced and economically developed nations, such as America and China, have poor ocean health in their nearby waters.

It is these countries which should be leading by example and setting the standard of ocean health which others should be aspiring to. Hopefully over the coming years more regulation and tighter laws on polluting the oceans will be implemented so that the world’s seas become a cleaner and safer place for everyone.

Image courtesy of boulemonademoon /

Read More