Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

C Ed Wright — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:31:40 GMT

Ah, here we go again: Perspective, perspective, perspective!

One-third more people being engulfed by sand than bitten by sharks, which ALMOST NEVER happens, is one-third more of almost-never happens -- another classic non-issue.

But Dad & Son probably have a book about it to sell, although this went unmentioned.

At risk of sounding incredibly cold, only really stupid parents fail to supervise their children, ANYTIME. Intelligent children possessing physical ability to dig dangerously deep holes will also realize how soft & noncohesive sand is just by digging in it. Stupid parents tend to produce stupid children that will fail to observe such an obvious thing. The result is merely a few less incredibly stupid people polluting the gene pool of humanity. Same goes double for people who play golf during thunderstorms. (Who did you think are the tiny number of people who get hit by lightning each year that we keep hearing is so few?)

We simply can't protect absolutely everyone from themselves. Some folks even argue that we shouldn't, for the sake of the future of humanity. I'm not advancing that view, just observing, however.

A far more prevalent menace you'd never suspect, to small toddlers just able to walk, is a bucket of water. Every year there is a much larger number of babies that peer into a bucket of water, fall forward (perfectly normal infantile dyscoordination), can't get back out, and promptly drown if Mom isn't watching. (It happens a LOT, but never gets reported by M5 because it simply isn't sensational.) And it happens a LOT because so many parents fail to watch their little children like the hawks they must emulate. Which in this day & age of too much information seems to bring us right back to the subject of stupid parents, except that some are simply too harried or sleep deprived to focus on even a known danger.

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

Jonathan B — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 22:32:32 GMT

As a person who went to the beach and got talked into letting his friends bury him in the sand, I can tell you this threat is real, and you do not have to have a six foot hole.

My friends and I, who were twenty somethings who should have known better, only had a hole deep enough for me and about six inches of top fill of sand.

I was buried in a slant, with my feet and body deeper than my head, and after they buried all but my face, I discovered two things. First, wet sand sets around you with the weight of concrete, which makes it very hard to move. Second, it weighs down on your chest like stones.

I found myself suffocating, and unable to yell to my friends to get me out, and unable to move arms or legs, to dig out. I could not yell, since I had blown out my air.

I escaped only by rotating my torso like a worm to move the sand back from my chest, so I could breathe, and then I wiggled enough to loosen the sand around my arms so I could free them, and uncover my upper torso.

I am a fairly strong individual, and was shocked to find how helpless I was in that situation. The biggest problem was from not just being buried in sand, but having it compressed around me, like I was a houseplant being planted.

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

ryree — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:58:48 GMT

I would assume that most people that go to the beach on vacations are people that dont live near or around them so they probably wouldnt know how dangerous this could be. What you mostly hear are stories of shark attacks or other such dangers. 24 deaths in 10 years might not seem like a lot but you would think different if it was your child. There should be a push for hotels and resorts along the beaches to include this information and warnings to others that stay there especially to families where the beach is a new experience for them.

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

Jo Bee — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:18:41 GMT

Haven't you ever seen sand cliffs? What an invitation for any red-blooded youngster to start digging a cave! I started to do this once after heavy weather had eroded the dunes some 55 years ago during our annual holidays on our Aussie Gold Coast, envisaging my own cubby-house-cum-cave. Well, my mother nearly freaked out! She had been on a Sydney beach as a child when a 'cave' collapsed, killing a child! Further up the beach, later that day a child was fatally trapped as the deceptively enticing sand dumped itself. It could have been me perhaps! Also, in all our combined years at the beach, we were never witess to a shark death, let alone shark attack!
Sand- 2
Sharks- nil
Big Pharma- pick a number!

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

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re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

Katy B — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 12:39:14 GMT

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

Ber — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 18:44:01 GMT

I have lived on the Tx gulf coast for sixteen years and in Tx all but 9 and then it was on the coast of CA. I never ever ever heard of such a thing. So there are air pockets under the sand that just give out? Is that was is being said?

Is it that adults and children, digging 6' holes and then having them collapse? There is no description of how the 'sink holes' are being formed.

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

dfb — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:51:43 GMT

please no unnecessary scare-mongering

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

Magnolia — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 11:57:44 GMT

Interfere if it could save the life of a child or adult. You are big enough to handle someone else's ill will toward you. You are doing a loving act and I would say, radiate love, without concern for the results. The results will take care of themselves.

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

annapavlova42 — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:39:48 GMT

You know what people, our earth is really changing. Mother , so it has been predicted, is taking her earth back. Her process is slow, but mother works her method her way.

We have harmed her long enough, and I do believe she wants revenge for her pain, and the pain of her beautiful creations, and creatures.

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

mmc88121 — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 23:51:14 GMT

I never heard about sand collapses before. Many people go to the beach during the summer and if this can prevent one needless death it is worth publishing.

Mary

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

A.M.E. — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:20:09 GMT

I used to live in a beach area and never knew of this danger. I am glad that it is being brought to light. Though, it may not have the live-saving or life-changing impact that most here are looking for...if it saves one life then it is worth it!

I used to dig holes all the time in the sand when I was a child. I know I had one that was at least 6 feet deep that at least 3 children could fit into...imagine it that had collapsed! I wouldn't be here now. At least I now know not to let my child engage in the same beach activities as I once did.

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

Zambini — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:55:20 GMT

I don't think it is necessarily over the top response here. One of the things I look for at Mercola.com is the little known, and I would say this counts for that. Oftentimes the news media does not report on cause of death for children, just lists as accidental if anything. So, we are very uninformed about many dangers of childhood - such as pool drownings.

I had a nephew recently drown in a neighbor's pool. He was 3. There was NO news coverage at all. In my opinion there should be lots of news coverage, and lots of new warnings issued to possibly prevent another tragedy. Even if the article saves one life, it is worth it to that one child's parents and family. That is why I find articles like this important and useful.

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

Russ Bianchi — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:49:49 GMT

How about we move the sand holes to exclusive golf clubs that OIL, PHARMA, FOOD AND SODA EXCUTIVES FREQUENT?

Brings a whole new aspect to 'green' fees.

re: Sand More Deadly Than Sharks at Beach

KathieJamisonCote — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:13:34 GMT

Let me see - 2 dozen over the last decade.............

children being harmed or killed daily from pharma-drugs.............

New England Journal of Medicine..........are you being perked to shift the focus???? hmmmm