![]() ![]() … Why can’t mules sink in quicksand?īecause the densities of mules and donkeys are both less than the quicksand, neither will sink if they don’t move. The throat muscles respond automatically by blocking the entry to the lungs. Can you drown in a teaspoon of water?ĭrowning can be triggered by getting even a teaspoonful of water in the lungs and the way our bodies react means there may be nothing we can do to stop it. Quicksand is a natural phenomenon found in Southern California locales like the Santa Ana River bottom. In general, quicksand can appear when two conditions are present: sand and a source of rising water. The truth is quicksand is very real and can be found in many parts of the U.S., including New Jersey, the coast of North Carolina, and many areas in the Southeast, particularly Florida. Just about everyone can relate to this feeling at some time or another. It’s sort of like quicksand, the more we fight it, the more stuck we feel and faster we sink. It’s like being pulled down deeper and deeper, swallowed up by a sinking feeling. What does it feel like to get stuck in quicksand? Exhaustion is the biggest risk, considering the amount of energy it can take to untangle oneself from the waterlogged soil. In reality, quicksand is very rarely more than a few feet deep, making it more of a messy nuisance than a life-threatening hazard. Try to reach for a branch or person’s hand to pull yourself out.Keep your arms up and out of the quicksand.Make yourself as light as possible-toss your bag, jacket, and shoes.This causes a trapped body to sink when it starts to move. Why do you sink in quicksand?Īt higher stresses, quicksand liquefies very quickly, and the higher the stress the more fluid it becomes. Quicksand can be found in places where there is grainy soil including riverbanks, marshes, lake shorelines, beaches and areas near underground springs. What does it feel like to get stuck in quicksand?.When it happens it takes you completely by surprise. No one expects to step into their kitchen and sink into the floor. ![]() The most frightening thing about quicksand is it breaks one of the constants of life that the ground we walk on is solid and will always support our weight. The fear I felt of continuing further across the wet sand was palpable. I managed to get onto some more solid sand and lay sprawled across this little 'island' of unsubmerged sand, surrounded on all sides by more ankle deep water. The quicksand is very viscous and has a strong 'suction' effect on your legs, as you try to pull them out it is like being submerged in honey. Gradually I sort of swam / dragged myself across the surface toward the other side of the creek. I remembered things I had read about quicksand and tried to spread my weight across the surface by leaning forward and spreading my hands and arms out wide. I was completely alone and for those first seconds of panic I even wondered if I might die. I took a few steps into the water then, with the next step my whole body sank up to the hip into the sand. The water was only ankle deep, and the creek was only 10 metres wide or so. I was walking down from the dunes and decided to take a shortcut across the creek, about 100m inland from where the coast walk crosses the creek. There is a creek that runs out from the lagoon, past the sand dunes and into the sea at the north end of the beach. I always thought quicksand was a myth from old Hollywood movies set in Egypt and Africa, until I actually experienced quicksand myself in the Royal National Park at Big Marley. Posts: 6991 Joined: Thu 01 Mar, 2007 7:55 am ASSOCIATED ORGANISATIONS: Bit Map (NIXANZ) Region: Tasmania Gender: Male There may have been other factors involved (maybe alcohol - don't know). I know of one person that fell off his boat, got stuck deep in the mud and drowned. Some parts of the Tamar River's upper reaches are like that too. I missed the fun, because I thought it looked like a bad place to cross and had back-tracked to where there were rocks. Thankfully, he was close enough to the far bank to pull himself out, but he was a little unsettled for a while afterwards. He only stopped going down because he then overbalanced and fell forwards. My mate walked in at a decent pace and shot down to his waist instantly and he reckons his feet still didn't find anything solid. The mud is not just sludgy, but genuinely quick, and very deep in some places. In fact, I reckon much of Explorer Lake is the same. There is some nasty quick mud in the flat part of Explorer Creek between Lake Explorer and where the creek starts flowing downhill over rocks. ![]()
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