Most of us have visited a beach next to the ocean at least once in our lives, and it’s fun to spend time there with friends, soaking up the sun, and splashing around in the water.
But also as the AskReddit pointed out, it’s unsettling to think about what else is out there beneath the waves.
Redditor matspud asked:
“What’s the scariest thing you know about the ocean?”
Some were in awe of the sheer size of the ocean.
“How big it is in all directions. Most people ‘know’ this at least at a factual level, but haven’t really thought of how scary that must be if you ever find yourself in the middle of the ocean deep beneath the surface.” – vivianmay02
“Just how much water there is. If you punched a swimming-pool sized hole in the bottom of the Marianas Trench so that ocean water would drain through it, it would take hundreds of thousands of years to deplete the oceans.” – AdvocateSaint
“Everything about the Marianas Trench scares the s**t out of me. The fact that it’s 36000 feet deep (as far as we know), and that light doesn’t penetrate water past 3200 feet is mindblowing to me.”
“For reference, Mount Everest is 29000 feet tall, which means you could fit Everest into the trench (in terms of height, not necessarily mass) and light wouldn’t even hit it, it would be entirely submerged in darkness.”
“The thought of thousands of feet of cold, dark water is an absolute nightmare in my opinion.” – TheBlueHerron1
“There’s a spot in the ocean called Point Nemo, where on average the closest humans to you are the astronauts on the International Space Station.” – BaffledDonuts420
Others agreed and thought of what hasn’t been explored.
“The majority of the world’s oceans have NOT been explored, and deep-sea creatures of all types have never been discovered.”
“H**l, we don’t even know what whales do most of the time. It’s another world underwater and we know almost nothing about it.” – AAOG666
“That literally anything based on deep-sea monsters could be real in a sense.” – SteveManson4554
“The bottom of the ocean is less searched than the surface of the MOON.” – Shy-Guys-Toast
Some introduced terrifying and deadly sea creatures.
“Right off the coast of Baja, Humbolt squid that are about 4 to 6 feet long, have sharp serrated teeth in every sucker on their arms can take you from the surface and drag you to depths of 900 feet.”
“You would just disappear from the surface and no one would ever hear nor see you again and you’d be mercilessly eaten by their beaks tearing grapefruit sized chunks out of you.” – yoncenator
“Sea spiders exist and they can get to over 2 meters in length.” – Fearless-1265
“There’s this thing called the Pelican Eel which lives deep down. It’s the actual s**t of nightmares.” – Imanol0206
“There’s this f**king 10-foot worm that lives under the ocean floor, except its head, which is level with the ocean floor. It’s got feelers and pincers so if a fish swims over it, it grabs on with the pincers and drags the fish under to eat it.” – mrusmca
A few pointed out how close by some creatures actually are.
“If you frequent the ocean enough you’re bound to swim a few feet from a shark.” – Dannydevitz
“My teacher regularly visits Africa as he owns a safari resort there (real neat guy) and told me how once while swimming, he saw a huge a** tiger shark swim overhead. It was only about 3 feet above him, scary s**t.” – RogueDoodler
“There are blue holes in the Bahamas which are all connected by miles of underwater caverns. Only 8% of it has been explored by humans.”
“The blue holes serve as fun little swimming holes and the water is clear and you can see to the bottom (at least on some I’ve read).”
“Sometimes people just disappear from them while swimming with friends. Like, there are reports of people turning around, then back around and their buddy is gone.”
“There are rumors of tentacles pulling people under.”
“Fun fact: octopi don’t stop growing.”
“Another fun fact: they can fit anywhere their jaw/ beak can fit.”
“Another fun fact: they are bottom dwellers.”
“Not saying Lusca is real… But you’ll never catch me in a blue hole.” – Key_Refridgerator7725
Two were concerned about what’s happening to the ocean.
“I’m afraid its eventual acidification may render it uninhabitable.” – Trepang
“People can’t even wrap their heads around coral bleaching or algal blooms much less the severity of snails and such not being able to sublimate calcium into shells anymore.” – Emotionally_dead
Some urged others to be respectful of nature.
“It’s where the food chain starts. Mankind is full speed ahead, d**n the torpedoes doing our best to completely destroy it with absolutely no regard for anything, even ourselves.”
“Ultimately, we’ll get what we deserve for the arrogant and callous way we’ve treated this planet.” – IfIKnewThen
“As a scuba diver, the most important thing to know is that the ocean doesn’t care about you. It might not be actively out to get you, but it’s also not going to help you.”
“You aren’t really meant to be there and it’s of no consequence what happens to you. Nothing there is conducive to you staying alive.”
“It’s an uneasy truce that you’re the only real party to. So it follows that all the warnings about paying attention, knowing your equipment, and remembering your training are in fact not bulls**t.”
“You’re a visitor, so treat it and yourself with respect. The ocean will continue what it’s been doing for eons whether you’re there or not. You don’t have that luxury.” – bg-j38
Some of these facts, especially the stranger creatures that have been discovered in deeper parts of the ocean, are particularly unsettling, especially when we mostly think about sparkling water and bright, sunny beaches.
While this may not stop all of us from going into the ocean ever again, perhaps it will give us the pause we need to appreciate the vastness of nature and the respect we should have for it.