A couple of NFL players might have drowned today

[BleedinBlue]

According to sources, Detroit Lions defensive end Corey Smith and Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper are among four boaters missing Sunday off Florida's Gulf Coast, the Coast Guard and Smith's agent said.

 

Smith and Cooper were on a 21-foot vessel that left Clearwater Pass on Saturday morning for a fishing trip and did not return as expected, the Coast Guard said Sunday. Crews used a helicopter and a 47-foot motor-life boat to search a 750-square mile area west of Clearwater Pass on Sunday.

 

Smith owned the boat and he and Cooper had been on fishing trips before, said Ron Del Duca, Smith's agent. The pair had been teammates on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004.

 

 

[BadEgg]

According to sources, Detroit Lions defensive end Corey Smith and Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper are among four boaters missing Sunday off Florida's Gulf Coast, the Coast Guard and Smith's agent said.

 

Smith and Cooper were on a 21-foot vessel that left Clearwater Pass on Saturday morning for a fishing trip and did not return as expected, the Coast Guard said Sunday. Crews used a helicopter and a 47-foot motor-life boat to search a 750-square mile area west of Clearwater Pass on Sunday.

 

Smith owned the boat and he and Cooper had been on fishing trips before, said Ron Del Duca, Smith's agent. The pair had been teammates on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004.

 

Anyone following this? I'd love to know exactly what happened but I don't know if we ever will. One news report (FOX) has the lone survivor saying that the two NFL players eventually gave up, took off their life vests, and floated out to see. The other two guys hung onto the boat, until one starting swimming toward what he believed to be lights.

 

Now, I am not even pretending that I know what it is like to be battered by 15 foot waves for hours on end, and I understand that hypothermia may have played a role, but it is still hard to believe that these two guys just quit while their buddies were still clinging to the boat. I guess I would expect this more if you were the last guy left and everyone else had perished. I totally buy the other guy swimming toward what he believed to be lights.

 

Also, who knows if this account is entirely accurate because the lone survivor is dehydrated and exhausted. But if it is -- wow -- allowing yourself to just float out to sea...

 

Tragic no matter what occurred.

[Allstarjim]

I can't imagine foul play here. I live in Tampa and there was a bad storm that came in off the Gulf that day, I don't know why anyone would go out of Bay into that... just not a good boating decision. But the boat was capsized and it was very cold that night as well. Last night it was in the 30's here in the Tampa area. It wasn't quite that cold the first night they were out there, but still pretty cold, probably high 40's low 50's that night. I thought it was pretty amazing that the one guy survived the night, personally. In a life or death situation, people often panic and make bad decisions. Leaving the boat was a bad choice. I had thought that because these guys were professional athletes that maybe they fooled themselves into thinking that they could swim back in to the coast. What I heard, though, was that the surviving dude said that they were just getting battered by the waves and 2 of them just got separated from the boat and couldn't get back because of the waves.

[NightFire]

Anyone following this? I'd love to know exactly what happened but I don't know if we ever will. One news report (FOX) has the lone survivor saying that the two NFL players eventually gave up, took off their life vests, and floated out to see. The other two guys hung onto the boat, until one starting swimming toward what he believed to be lights.

 

Now, I am not even pretending that I know what it is like to be battered by 15 foot waves for hours on end, and I understand that hypothermia may have played a role, but it is still hard to believe that these two guys just quit while their buddies were still clinging to the boat. I guess I would expect this more if you were the last guy left and everyone else had perished. I totally buy the other guy swimming toward what he believed to be lights.

 

Also, who knows if this account is entirely accurate because the lone survivor is dehydrated and exhausted. But if it is -- wow -- allowing yourself to just float out to sea...

 

Tragic no matter what occurred.

 

Not only that but salt water, they were in the ocean right, will fuck you up if you drink it. Even a little will cause paranoia and hallucinations so it's very possible. I watched a show on that torpedoed boat from WWII, something like that anyway, where like 100 sailors died. They found that most drowned or went crazy from salt water poisoning and very few were actually killed by sharks.

[Lubeck]

Not only that but salt water, they were in the ocean right, will fuck you up if you drink it. Even a little will cause paranoia and hallucinations so it's very possible. I watched a show on that torpedoed boat from WWII, something like that anyway, where like 100 sailors died. They found that most drowned or went crazy from salt water poisoning and very few were actually killed by sharks.

 

The USS Indianapolis. Since it was delivering the bombs its mission was of the utmost secrecy and no one really knew where the ship was.

 

It is a shame this happened but hopefully everyone can learn a lesson from this. Check the OFFSHORE weather before heading out. Not the local weather.

[ppodlesny]

Not only that but salt water, they were in the ocean right, will fuck you up if you drink it. Even a little will cause paranoia and hallucinations so it's very possible. I watched a show on that torpedoed boat from WWII, something like that anyway, where like 100 sailors died. They found that most drowned or went crazy from salt water poisoning and very few were actually killed by sharks.

that was a true story about the USS Indianapolis....they were delivering the first h-bomb

[Lubeck]

that was a true story about the USS Indianapolis....they were delivering the first h-bomb

 

A-bomb. H-bombs didn't come about till the 50s.

[BIGBLUE01]

Anyone following this? I'd love to know exactly what happened but I don't know if we ever will. One news report (FOX) has the lone survivor saying that the two NFL players eventually gave up, took off their life vests, and floated out to see. The other two guys hung onto the boat, until one starting swimming toward what he believed to be lights.

 

Now, I am not even pretending that I know what it is like to be battered by 15 foot waves for hours on end, and I understand that hypothermia may have played a role, but it is still hard to believe that these two guys just quit while their buddies were still clinging to the boat. I guess I would expect this more if you were the last guy left and everyone else had perished. I totally buy the other guy swimming toward what he believed to be lights.

 

Also, who knows if this account is entirely accurate because the lone survivor is dehydrated and exhausted. But if it is -- wow -- allowing yourself to just float out to sea...

 

Tragic no matter what occurred.

 

Im following this closely, Marquis Cooper is the son of Phoenix Valley sportscaster Bruce Cooper, a popular sports guy here in the valley. Marquis also went to Gilbert Highland High here, a powerhouse in AZ HS Football. Its tragic and sad as hell. They have to have perished, this long without food and good water? Its a terrible tragedy.

 

From what Ive been reading and hearing, the two missing players(Cooper and Smith) and the lone survivor were all floating in different directions. They tried to stay near, and then just couldnt help drifting apart. The survivor said that they had their life jackets on and never saw them take them off. The 4th player, I havent heard about.

 

[ppodlesny]

A-bomb. H-bombs didn't come about till the 50s.

you sir are correct...a bomb, h bomb, you know what I meant

[BIGBLUE01]

you sir are correct...a bomb, h bomb, you know what I meant

 

I drop Fbombs quite often.

[Lubeck]

you sir are correct...a bomb, h bomb, you know what I meant

 

I did but someone else might not have

[NightFire]

The USS Indianapolis. Since it was delivering the bombs its mission was of the utmost secrecy and no one really knew where the ship was.

 

It is a shame this happened but hopefully everyone can learn a lesson from this. Check the OFFSHORE weather before heading out. Not the local weather.

 

Yeah that's the one. The documentary was very good and I had no idea that salt water would be that damaging. Apparently even just a sip when you are that dehydrated will mess you up big time. Soldiers were even killing each other because they were insane. I could imagine it would take great will power not to drink the water while you are that thirsty.

[ppodlesny]

I drop Fbombs quite often.

I use to then I had kids....then you suddenly and miraculously forget all the curse words, of course until they do something wrong

[TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt]

Yeah that's the one. The documentary was very good and I had no idea that salt water would be that damaging. Apparently even just a sip when you are that dehydrated will mess you up big time. Soldiers were even killing each other because they were insane. I could imagine it would take great will power not to drink the water while you are that thirsty.

 

Its just as it says in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" - "...water...water everywhere...but ne'er a drop to drink". Oh BigBlue1 that is the Old English spelling of Rhyme.

[BadEgg]

Not only that but salt water, they were in the ocean right, will fuck you up if you drink it. Even a little will cause paranoia and hallucinations so it's very possible. I watched a show on that torpedoed boat from WWII, something like that anyway, where like 100 sailors died. They found that most drowned or went crazy from salt water poisoning and very few were actually killed by sharks.

 

Some of the other posters in this thread have talked about the boaters "becoming separated." I had read that, and it made sense to me because of the bad seas. But the Fox report that I read talks about them purposely removing their life vests and floating away. I would hate to think it happened that way. But atleast this stuff about the salt water provides an explanation as to why that may have occurred. I had always heard not to drink it because it could cause dehydration but salt water poisoning is new to me.

[Allstarjim]

Some of the other posters in this thread have talked about the boaters "becoming separated." I had read that, and it made sense to me because of the bad seas. But the Fox report that I read talks about them purposely removing their life vests and floating away. I would hate to think it happened that way. But atleast this stuff about the salt water provides an explanation as to why that may have occurred. I had always heard not to drink it because it could cause dehydration but salt water poisoning is new to me.

 

 

From Wiki:

 

Accidentally consuming small quantities of clean seawater is not harmful, especially if the seawater is consumed along with a larger quantity of fresh water. However, consuming seawater to maintain hydration is counterproductive; in the long run, more water must be expended to eliminate the seawater's salt (through excretion in urine) than the amount of water that is gained from drinking the seawater itself. [8]

This occurs because the amount of sodium chloride in human blood is actively regulated within a very narrow range of 9 g/L (0.9% by weight) by the kidney. Drinking seawater (which contains about 3.5% ions of dissolved sodium chloride) temporarily increases the concentration of sodium chloride in the blood. This in turn promotes sodium excretion by the kidney, but the sodium concentration of seawater is above the maximum concentrating ability of the human kidney. Eventually with further seawater intake the blood concentration of sodium will rise to toxic levels, removing water from all cells and interfering with nerve conduction ultimately giving seizures and heart arrhythmias which become fatal.

Of note, various animals adapt to harsh living conditions. For example, the desert rat is able to concentrate sodium far more efficiently than the human kidney, and therefore would be able to survive by drinking seawater.

 

Survival manuals consistently advise against drinking seawater. For example, the book "Medical Aspects of Harsh Environments" (Chapter 29 - Shipboard Medicine) [1] presents a summary of 163 life raft voyages. The risk of death was 39% for those who drank seawater, compared to only 3% for those who did not drink seawater. The effect of seawater intake has also been studied in laboratory setting in rats. (Etzion and Yagil; Metabolic effects in rats drinking increasing concentrations of seawater. Comp Biochem Physiol A. 1987;86(1):49-55.) [2]. This study confirmed the negative effects of drinking seawater when dehydrated.

The temptation to drink seawater has always been greatest for sailors who have expended their supply of fresh water, and are unable to capture enough rainwater for drinking. This frustration is described famously by a line from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:

"Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink."

Although it is clear that a human cannot survive on seawater alone, some people claim that one can drink up to two cups a day, mixed with fresh water in a 2:3 ratio, without ill effect. The French physician Alain Bombard claimed to have survived an ocean crossing in a small raft using only seawater and other provisions harvested from the ocean, but the veracity of his findings was challenged. In Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl reported drinking seawater mixed with fresh in a 40/60% ratio. A few years later another adventurer named William Willis claimed to have drunk two cups of seawater and one cup of fresh per day for 70 days without ill effect when he lost his part of his water supply. [9]

Most modern ocean-going vessels create drinkable (potable) water from seawater using desalination processes such as vacuum distillation, multi-stage flash distillation, or by the use of reverse osmosis. However these processes are energy intensive, and most were not available or practical during the age of sail.