People Share The Most Frightening Facts About The Big Blue Ocean

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.

The Exact Scariest Moment of These 15 People’s Lives

Some of these people have had some seriously terrifying, rough days. And to you, my friends, I offer a trigger warning – beware going forward if you’ve experienced any serious trauma (like suicide or other violent death) in your own life.

#15. It’s a void.

“An accident in which I lost 2 full weeks of memory. I have seen pictures where I’m in a wheelchair being pushed around the hospital by my parents and brother, I have my eyes open, I’m laughing, but I remember literally zero of it. Nothing. It’s a void.”

#14. They still scare me.

“I was at an airport and a woman’s leg got stuck in the escalator. I remember a lot of blood and her screaming and watching her pray to god as the paramedics wheeled her away.

Escalators still scare me.

Edit: I also just remembered another detail, people were pressing the stop button and it didn’t stop.”

#13. Glad to this day.

“As a child, around 12, I was walking back to school, from a tennis lesson. The route was around a km and some.

I just started on my way back, and this car soon comes by and pulls over. A senior, possibly in his late 60s is the only occupant.

He asks where I’m going, and if I need a lift. I politely decline, then he started asking other questions. Being oblivious, I answer him, discussing my father’s work, what my mother did with her time, and how many siblings I had. Didn’t think anything of it for so many years, till around 2 years ago, the memory popped up in my head.

Only then did the gravity of what was happening at the time come home. He was trying to familiarize himself with me, and in some way grooming me to see him as a friend.

I’m still glad to this day that I never got into that car.”

#12. It haunts and horrifies me.

“Watching my 7 y.o niece have her arm mauled by an 80 lb dog. Desperately smashing its head with a broken shovel to get it to release her. Having to use my hand to hold her upper arm to stop the loss of blood looking ar yee mutilated flesh. It haunts and horrifies me. Everytime I hear a child yell or scream I have a moment panic that goes to.my core. Every time I look at her arm I feel deeply saddened and sickened.”

#11. As dumb as I was.

“When I was 10 or 11, I was at the mall with my mom. We were in Venture, near the entrance to the mall. Some guy in his early 20s or late teens was standing there at the entrance, my mom a few aisles over. He started talking to me, asking if I wanted to go to the arcade with him. He claimed to know my brother, that he went to school with him. Me, being young and stupid, pipes up with “oh, you know _______ (my brothers name)”. He’s like yeah I know _______!

As dumb as I was, I was thankfully at least smart enough to go and ask my mom if it was okay. She freaked and went over to where he was, and of course he was gone.”

#10. Always wear a helmet.

“About two years back, I saw a live road accident involving a bike and a truck. The biker’s head was squished like a water melon. This was too disturbing to see. A human body in a shape like that. I will never forget that sight.

ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET GUYS!”

#9. The sound.

“A man jumped/fell from a building in New York and landed about three metres behind me. The sound when he hit, and the way he hit half on the sidewalk, half on the road, and his body had moulded to the kerb and just..spread out.

This happened in 1998 and I can still remember every detail..”

#8. Every time I think about it.

“Directly behind my house is a huge recreation area with miles and miles of hiking trails. People have gone missing there in recent years and they’ve found bodies there too. One day about two years ago I fell asleep on the couch accidentally and at like two AM, my dogs went absolutely crazy barking at the front door and they wouldn’t shut up so I got up to see what it was. There was a man standing in my doorway with the screen door already opened in his hand- like I caught him the second between opening my screen door and opening the door to my house, which I had accidentally left unlocked because like I said, I accidentally fell asleep. I was totally out of it and still half asleep so the situation didn’t really dawn on me and the first thing out of my mouth was “Oh, hey. What do you need?” Then I woke up and realized what the hell was going on and slammed my door shut in his face and locked it and called 911. The dude left and the police never found anyone. I obviously don’t know why that man was on my doorstep but the fact that he could have taken me into that park very easily and no one would have known until it was too late shakes me up every time I think about it.”

#7. So dang creepy.

“I was going through a hard time and needed money. I saw an ad in a local paper that said “buying musical instruments. Any condition. Call ####.” So, I called to sell my guitar. I talked to a man on the phone, and he seemed nice enough. He asked about the condition and what model it was and what not. He said he wanted to buy it and agreed to meet me at a guitar center near by.

So, I meet this guy in the parking lot and I show him my guitar. He asks, “why are you trying to sell your guitar?” I tell him that I am going through a hard time. He then says, “well, you could stay with me if you want.” I say, “um, no sir. Are you still going to buy my guitar?” He ignores me and says, “How about you jack me off and I’ll give you $50.” I calmly reply, “No. Are you going to buy this or not?” So he asks, “How about you watch me jack off in my car and I’ll give you $50.” To which I replied, “No! What the FUCK?!” I grabbed my guitar, went into the store and waited inside until he left.

He stayed in that parking lot for a bit too. So dang creepy. I called that paper and got his ad removed.”

#6. Life is a funny thing.

“When I was 22, just graduated college, I began my job search. Within the first 3 weeks out of college, I was lucky to find a job relatively close to where my family lived. I still lived at home to help pay off my loans, and as a recent grad, I was more concerned with getting a job than getting my own place.

My older brother and I are both very close, basically best friends. We decided to celebrate with a long night of gaming 3 nights before my “big boy job” started. He doesn’t live at home with us, so it was going to be some good ol’ online gaming.

I was planning on playing his voice audio over the speakers in my room, but it wasn’t working. My younger brother (16 at the time) was in the room with me and wanted to hear my older brothers voice. For whatever reason, we couldn’t get it to work because he would hear himself through my microphone. So instead, we were going to use a headphone method instead, both wearing headsets. We were seconds from putting those headsets on when we heard a faint scream. It was a strange sound, and we were unsure what was going on.

When we ran down the stairs (we were on the second floor of the house) we searched frantically for what that noise was. My parents were on the front porch with friends, so we knew it wasn’t them. The only other person who was home was my younger sister (~20 years old) who at the time was going through A LOT of dark times.

We both ran down into the basement, turned the corner, and saw my sister hanging 2 feet above the ground with an electrical extension cord around her neck. Chair was knocked over, and she was frantically clawing at her neck. Her face was swollen purple, it was a horrific thing to see. My brother FROZE, and I ran up and grabbed her, lifted her up on my tippy toes to give some slack to the cord, and yelled for him to get my parents. I had to yell a few times for him to finally go and get my mom and dad. She ended up surviving. When emergency personnel came to assess the situation, and take her to the hospital to check for brain damage and injuries, the first officer on the scene pulled me aside, shook my hand, and said she could have been dead in seconds. He said he was happy to finally come to one of these scenes where the person survived.

The story goes on from there. Had we not had audio issues in my room, I wonder how this situation would have been different. I mean it, we were seconds from putting on the headsets.

Life is a funny thing.”

#5. When I was thirteen…

“When I was thirteen I found my best friend hanging from a belt in my closet. I thought it was a joke at first until I pushed him and he started swinging. He had just knelt down and let it happen. I got him down and pulled the belt loose and there was a nasty mark and I think that was when I realised how serious it was. Ran and told parents to call 911. Ran back upstairs and could hear some gurgling noises coming from him. He was in a coma for a week but he lived thank God. To top it off a lot of people including his parents blamed me.”

#4. A BLACK MAMBA.

“Not as morbid as some of the others in this thread but probably getting stuck in the shower ( technically a wet room) with a black mamba while on holiday aged 8. That was pretty terrifying.”

#3. Four years later.

“When I was crossing a road and a car came screaming around the corner didn’t see me and hit me. This happened right outside my sons school. He saw the accident but didn’t know it was me ( I was in all black gym clothes ). Concision, head trauma, obliterated my left shoulder ACL and tore my ACL in my left knee. Huge bruise from hip to lower calf.

Hospital said they only thing that saved me was I didn’t see it coming so was not expecting it and was basically a rag doll. Turns out the driver was not insured, suspended license and the car wasn’t his.

I still shit myself 4 years later when crossing the road.”

#2. The last time.

“Finding my six week old baby deceased. Trying to do cpr on his obviously lifeless little body while on the phone with 911 while I listened to my husband and kids screaming in agony. Holding him against me trying to warm him and knowing this was the last time I would ever have him in my arms.”

#1. Never knowing.

“I was a freshman in college when I received a series of mysterious/threatening phone calls. At the time, I was pledging my fraternity and assumed that some of the brothers were pranking me. The calls always came from a restricted number. The calls were innocuous enough at first – asking me how I was enjoying the pledging experience, etc. Over time, they got more and more threatening, telling me that I was going to be murdered/threatening to hurt me. The actual weirdest part, though, was that the mysterious caller started calling random people in my life and telling them that I was in love with them (there was no pattern to who these people were and I was certainly not in love with these people). A lot of these people were men (I am queer but was deeply in the closet at the time and definitely no brothers knew that). I only found out because these people, many of whom I hadn’t spoken to in awhile, independently called me asking me why they were receiving these weird calls/voicemails.

Eventually, I confronted the fraternity’s president telling him to let the brothers know to knock it off. He was genuinely confused and assured me that no one was pranking me. Eventually, the calls stopped, but to this day, I wonder how the caller (A) knew so much about my personal life and (B) why he would invest so much time and energy into something so pointless. I genuinely hope I figure out who it is one day but have resigned myself to never knowing.”

The post The Exact Scariest Moment of These 15 People’s Lives appeared first on UberFacts.