Located about 1,300 feet below sea level, is the not-so-deadly Dead Sea. This sea actually attracts tons of tourists to Israel every year. This is because the Dead Sea is the lowest and saltiest place on Earth.
In fact, almost 35 percent of the sea is dissolved salt (six times then saltiness of a regular ocean). Because of the saltiness of the water, there are no creeping, crawling (or swimming) creatures that live in or near the water.
So now you may be thinking “How can this sea NOT be deadly to us if it’s deadly to all of those other living organisms?”
Humans are surprisingly adaptable, so we can “swim” in the Dead Sea the same way that we can swim in the ocean…well actually you can’t really swim in this sea. Due to the high concentration of dissolved mineral salts in the water, the density is way higher than the density of regular fresh water. This then means that our bodies become more buoyant in the Dead Sea, so you basically just bob up and down in the water. Due to this, it’s actually pretty hard to try to swim in the Dead Sea.
Now tell me, how would you like to visit the Dead Sea one day?
I did the Dead Sea as well except when I looked up information it said that the Dead Sea is 8.4 times saltier than the ocean. And isn't it really cool how you can float without trying and I think it's really interesting how only bacteria can survive in there due to the high salt levels?
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DeleteMaybe the websites we used gave different information because at different depths, the amount of salt in the water may also vary. And yea, I think that it's really cool that you could just float in the water without trying. That's why I would really like to visit the Dead Sea one day!
DeleteGreat post, Lily! My mom visited the region this past year and went for a swim...I mean bob in the Dead Sea. She thought it was very different! I must say I would love to go check this place out! I have heard that you can find mummified critters in the water, since sometimes they die in the water and then the salt takes over from there. Ewww!
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