A lot of people always ask questions like is it safe to swim in the ocean?
It is not safe to swim in the ocean due to the risk of hypothermia, drowning, contacting an infection or being attacked by wild sea animals.
These are some of the things that can likely happen when you swim in zones or areas that are less safe.
One of these areas include the ocean.
That is due to the presence of micro organisms due to how the ocean water is, presence of wild and carnivorous sea animals like the shark.
Why It Is Not Safe To Swim In The Ocean
1) Presence Of Germs And Micro Organisms In Ocean
Anytime you are swimming, one of the things you always have to pay attention to has to do with the condition of the water that you are swimming in.
When swimming, you have to make sure that the water that you are swimming in is safe and hygienic.
This is usually easy to do in controlled swimming centers.
One of these controlled swimming centers is the swimming pool.
It can be a concrete swimming pool or an inflatable pool.
When swimming in a pool, the water is safer and more hygienic when compared to the water of the ocean.
This is due to the treatment that is given to the swimming pool water.
This is usually done with the use of chemicals like chlorine.
This helps in killing the germs and micro organisms that are in the water.
This also helps in making the swimming pool safe for use and free from things like micro organisms.
But when it comes to the use of an ocean to swim, the opposite is the case.
In the ocean, there are a lot of micro organisms that are present in the water which is dangerous for a swimmer.
This is because the ocean is not a controlled environment for swimming where the water can be easily treated like the swimming pool.
Due to this, it inhabits a lot of micro organisms that can cause harm to you if you decide to swim in the ocean.
2) Risk Of Drowning
Whenever thoughts like is it safe to swim in the ocean pops up in your mind, one of the things you have to consider is your safety while you swim.
This is because swimming in the ocean will never be like when you swim in the swimming pool.
When you swim in the swimming pool, you are swimming in a static water which in most of the times are more safe.
This is because the depth of the swimming pool is always calibrated.
This helps you swim in the more shallow parts of the swimming pool if you are not really experienced with swimming.
When it comes to swimming in the ocean, this is not usually the same thing you will encounter.
In the ocean, the depth of water is very deep.
This makes it very risky for you to swim in the ocean especially if you are not very good at swimming.
This is because apart from the depth of the water in the ocean, the water current of the ocean is usually dynamic as compared to the static water current of a swimming pool.
Depending on the direction you swim, you may be swimming against the water current of the ocean water.
This makes it very energy demanding and can make you weak easily.
One of the parts of the body in which you will feel weak is in your hands.
If there is no one to help you out of the water, you will easily drown.
3) Risk Of Getting Eaten By Ocean Wild Animals
The ocean is a home to a lot of wild sea animals.
One thing about these wild sea animals is that they are carnivorous in nature.
Due to this, they easily feed on any vulnerable flesh they come in contact with when they feel like eating.
One of such carnivorous sea animals is the shark.
One of the places in which you are going to find a shark is the ocean.
Apart from the shark in the ocean, you are going to find a whole lot of other dangerous sea animals.
These animals easily attack humans in shallow boats.
That is why inflatable kayaks are not really safe for use on the ocean water.
This is because it can easily be destroyed by the ocean wild creatures like the shark.
This is even worse when you swim in the ocean.
This puts you in a very vulnerable position for the shark or any other sea animal to attack easily.
This has been seen a lot of times every year.
This is why people are always advised to avoid the ocean when they are swimming.
This is to help avoid casualties like getting eaten by a wild sea animal.
4) Risk Of Hypothermia
One of the things that you are going to experience in the ocean water is the temperature of the water.
When it comes to the temperature of the ocean water, you will discover that it is too cold for you to stay in it for too long.
Staying in it for too long will lead to health complications.
One of such health complications is hypothermia.
Hypothermia is the gradual decrease in the temperature of the body when exposed to cold.
The longer the time in which you expose your body to cold, the condition becomes worse.
This leads to the malfunctioning of the major organs in your body.
If you are not rescued out of the water early, you can die from the hypothermia.
Swimming as we know is not something that you just get into the water and get out in seconds.
Anybody that swims always have some certain number of minutes inside the water when swimming.
When this is done in a cold water like the ocean water, this becomes a problem to the health condition of the person swimming.
That is why you have to make sure that you avoid swimming in the ocean especially the ones that are very cold in temperature.
Conclusion
Swimming is great when done in a place that is safe.
One of the best places where you can swim safely is the swimming pool.
This is because the water is controlled in hygiene and depth too.
This reduces the occurrence of things like drowning or having an infection as compared to when you swim in the ocean.
This is one of the reasons why some people ask is it safe to swim in the ocean.
Further Reading