Thalassophobia is the persistent and intense fear of deep bodies of water such as the ocean or sea. Of all of the phobias out there, this is by far one of the most understanding ones. How could you look into a body of water and not be a little scared of what’s under there?
If you’re not a thalassophile, then you probably will be after you read this list of scary aquatic events. It has everything from murders, to shark attacks, and natural events that will make you much happier about living on land.
Here’s a deep dive into the abyss known as Wikipedia.
1. Roopkund aka “Skeleton Lake”
Roopkund is a high-altitude glacial lake in the Uttarakhand state of India. It’s locally known as “Mystery Lake” or “Skeleton Lake” for having hundreds of ancient human skeletons at the edge of the lake. It’s said that the skeletons are the remains of people who died in a violent hailstorm in the 9th century.
2. The Diving Bell Spider
The diving bell spider lives almost entirely underwater. It’s found in freshwaters such as lakes and ponds. It only comes to the surface to replenish its oxygen and its bit can cause nausea, vomiting, and feverishness.
3. The Disappearance of Rebecca Coriam
Rebecca Coriam was a crew member on the cruise ship Disney Wonder. In 2011, she turned up missing after not reporting for her shift one morning. Investigators discovered security camera footage of her aboard the ship at 5:45 am. Video shows her on the phone and appearing emotionally distraught, but her body has not been found.
4. The Disappearance Of Andrew McAuley
Andrew McAuley was an Australian mountaineer and sea kayaker. He is presumed to have died following his disappearance at sea while attempting to kayak 994 miles across the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand in February 2007.
The documentary of McAuley’s journey, Solo, included video footage recovered from one surviving memory stick in his camera, as well as interviews with people on his team during the expedition. It begins with the distress call he made on the evening of 9 February: “Do you copy? This is kayak one. Do you copy, over? I’ve got an emergency situation. I’m in a kayak about 30 km from Milford Sound. I need a rescue. My kayak’s sinking. Fell off into the sea and I’m going down.
5. The Abyssal Zone
The Abyssal Zone is the pitch-black bottom layer of the ocean. The name is from the Latin abyssalis, meaning abyss, something bottomless or extremely deep. It extends from
extends from 13,100 feet to 19,700 feet.
6. The Sinking Of The U.S.S. Indianapolis
During WWII a Japanese sub fired torpedos at the U.S.S. Indianapolis. The attack sparked an explosion that split the ship and caused it to sink in approximately 12 minutes, with about 300 men trapped inside.
The remaining of the 1,200 crew members were left adrift in the ocean without lifepreservers and lifeboats. Many were eaten/attacked by sharks and died of saltwater poisoning. Only 316 survived.
7. The Murder of Helle Crafts
Helle Crafts was a Danish flight attendant who was murdered by her husband, Eastern Air Lines pilot Richard Crafts. Her death led to the state of Connecticut’s first murder conviction without the victim’s body.
Investigators found her remains were fed through a woodchipper after being dismembered by a chainsaw.
8. The Salish Sea Human Foot Discoveries
Since August 20, 2007, at least 20 detached human feet have been found on the coasts of the Salish Sea in British Columbia, Canada, and Washington, US. The first discovery, on August 20, 2007, was on Jedediah Island in British Columbia. Feet have been discovered on the coasts of islands in British Columbia, and in the US cities of Tacoma and Seattle.
Investigators say that the foot detaches from the body due to the body decomposing and then floats to the top. Causes of death range from boating accidents and plane crashes, to suicide and foul play.
9. The Bermuda Triangle
Pretty much anything that happens in the Bermuda Triangle. This list of incidents includes more than 900 fatalities in the Bermuda triangle due to missing planes, strange encounters at sea, and one on land involving two lighthouse keepers who went missing and were never found.
10. The Lake Bodom Murders
The Lake Bodom murders are one of the most infamous unsolved homicide cases in Finnish criminal history.
Four teens camping on the shorter of Lake Bodom in June of 1960. Three of them were found stabbed to death and the lone survivor Nils Gustafsson wound up with a concussion and facial fractures. Gustafsson claimed to only get a glimpse of the attacker. He was later tried for their murders but acquitted.
11. The Lady In The Lake Trial
The Lady in the Lake trial was a 2005 murder case in which Gordon Park a retired teacher from Leece, near Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England, was jailed for life for the 1976 murder of his first wife, Carol Ann Park.
Carol’s body was found underwater and her cause of death was blunt trauma to her face by means of an ice axe. She was then bound with rope, using complex knots, weighed down with rocks and lead pipes, and thrown overboard from a boat on Coniston Water. The body landed on an underwater ledge where it was later found by amateur divers. Had it been dropped a few feet further from the shore, it would have sunk much deeper and probably never have been discovered. There was a great deal of controversy surrounding the case.
12. Bog Bodies
A bog body is a human cadaver that has been naturally mummified in a peat bog. Such bodies, sometimes known as bog people, are both geographically and chronologically widespread, having been dated to between 8000 BCE and the Second World War.
13. The Lake Nyos Disaster
In 1986, a limnic eruption in northwestern Cameroon at Lake Nyos triggered the sudden release of about 100,000–300,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
The gasses rose, and due to being heavier than air, the cloud descended onto the nearby villages. This event displaced the air, which resulted in the suffocation of 1,746 people and 3,500 livestock.
14. Little Miss Lake Panasoffkee
Little Miss Lake Panasoffkee is the name given to an unidentified young woman who was found murdered by two teenage hitchhikers under a highway overpass in Lake Panasoffkee, Florida.
She was found fully clothed, wearing a ring with a men’s belt fastened around her neck partially submerged underwater in Lake Panasoffkee.
15. The Lava Lake Murders
In 1924, three friends spent the winter living in a log cabin and working as fur trappers at Lava Lake in Central Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest. They went missing and investigators discovered blood, human hair, and teeth, which led to the lake. Their bodies were found after the frozen ice thawed.
The Lava Lake murders are one of the oldest unsolved murder cases in Oregon’s history.
16. The MV Joyita
The MV Joyita was a merchant vessel that set to sail the South Pacific in 1955. The ship housed a crew of 25 but was discovered adrift over a month later with no one aboard. There are many theories as to what happened. From insurance fraud to an injured captain.
17. Oba Chandler — a murderer whose victims were still alive when he threw them into the water
Oba Chandler was convicted and executed on Nov. 15, 2011, at Florida State Prison in Raiford for the June 1989 murders of Joan Rogers and her two daughters, whose bodies were found floating in Tampa Bay, Florida with their hands and feet bound.