Do you pass up dead bodys and leave them stay?

[kthoennes]

In my commercial diving days in college we had a job in Astoria, Queens (ny) at the Con Ed plant on the river fixing the cooling water intake racks. Body floated into the intake canal and bumped up against the racks. We sat in the company truck for hours until the police divers showed up and lifted out the body. It would have been much faster and easier for us to do it (they were scuba, we were hardhat with lots of heavy equipment) but "the authorities" took care of it.

[zeehag]

yes. in mexico one calls uscg for sar. mexico and usa work together, dontcha know--smugglers alley and sar. sad for some, but is truth. call uscg to find out, if you wish.
dbs here are called to port captain and uscg--happened just last year at this time, one cutter from washington state was found indisposable and between mexican port cpt and uscg and family of deceased, was done..

there are not only fishing mexicans on the water in mexico--you would be very surprised what one can hear and converse in mexico--this tropical area has many places for yachts and boats and not just usa sports wealth and wannabe style--there are many wealthy mexicans--truly wealthy......and these folks are quite stylish.

btw-- for the record--mexoco has a much more efficient sar team than any existing in usa. they are called out especially for disasters and special needs sar efforts. they have an excellent record for finding folks.
before you criticize, research. you may be very surprised..

[hpeer]

Apparently same thing around our marina. Only saw it once myself but apparently occurs a few times a year. Popular jumper bridge nearby. Current washes them in.

When I was a kid a couple guys in my class were out on the bay in Feb. illegally shooting at ducks with a 22. They "got" one and went to pick it up. Oopsie! Floater.

Try explaining THAT to the police.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Guy

You think so? There was a Panga off the cost of Mexico one night that sure looked like it had a dead body in it. Scared the crap out of us but what do you imagine doing?

I could imagine it just being some guy sleeping. I'm sure the guys that have to stay out there at night snooze off as soon as they can. It's crazy more of those guys don't get killed with all the crap they do (no lights, single engines on long distances, hang ass over to take a crap in front of all your friends, etc).

[Teknav]

If I found a dead body in the middle of the ocean, I would approach it and attach a couple of empty plastic bottles to it; like sealed bleach bottles/floaters. This is in the hope that the current might bring it to some shore, before it is consumed by the fishes. I would enter in my ship's log: the longitude/latitude, description of clothes, sex, color and any visible markings/wounds/mutilations. If I was within a few hours of land, I'd call up the coast guard and stay put. I would also attach a "floater" to the body. <Medical personnel cannot ignore a situation like that.>
Mauritz

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by scoobert

i am talking more about offshore then off a bridge.

Anyone who told you that they have encountered multiple dead bodies offshore on different occasions is pulling your leg. I think think the probability of that is astronomically low, to say the least.

If you encounter a floating body that is clearly decomposed then tag it as best you can, notify what authorities you can, and move on. The risk of bringing it onboard for future identification is (likely) greater than the benefit. I say that not being a medical professional or having really any real knowledge of the risks. Hopefully someone with some real knowledge will chime in.

[rebel heart]

But no I don't think I'd want to haul a water logged partially decomposed corpse onto my deck which would probably just pull him apart. I'd take a ton of pictures, maybe fish out some ID if I was feeling crazy, and note the position/time.

Beyond that, it depends where I am. Off the coast of Mexico here I wouldn't do a damn thing else because of the narco cartel violence. That stuff is dead real and if you do anything that remotely gets in their world, you can no-kidding get murdered.

Of the coast of the US or a country that has its act together I'd definitely call it in and sit with the body, at least as long as they told me to (reasonably).

[model 10]

Originally Posted by zeehag

yes. in mexico one calls uscg for sar. mexico and usa work together, dontcha know--smugglers alley and sar. sad for some, but is truth. call uscg to find out, if you wish.
dbs here are called to port captain and uscg--happened just last year at this time, one cutter from washington state was found indisposable and between mexican port cpt and uscg and family of deceased, was done..

there are not only fishing mexicans on the water in mexico--you would be very surprised what one can hear and converse in mexico--this tropical area has many places for yachts and boats and not just usa sports wealth and wannabe style--there are many wealthy mexicans--truly wealthy......and these folks are quite stylish.

btw-- for the record--mexoco has a much more efficient sar team than any existing in usa. they are called out especially for disasters and special needs sar efforts. they have an excellent record for finding folks.
before you criticize, research. you may be very surprised..

Well I 've sailed both coasts of mexico so I do kind of know how up to snuff they are. Nice people but even in Mexico a vhf only goes so far and I don't sail just along the shore.

[hpeer]

Can't remember exactly who it was but some lady cruiser I was talking to a few years ago told me of leaving some place (Nicaragua? Columbia?) after a catastrophe of some sort. Lots of rain with mud slides. She was off shore and out of touch with the news when they went through a debris field containing bodies. Sounded like a bunch.

Rather gruesome story and I didn't press her on it.

[sww914]

When they're floating, they've entered the very unpleasant stage. I'd pass.

[MarkJ]

79Th St Boat Basin in New York city was a classic for it because there is a bridge a little bit upriver where the jumpers would jump.
Had the cops pick one up right next to my boat.
Then in martinique 2 weeks ago in Fort De France I could see a crown watching some dudded in weird red and black uniforms egtting a RIB launched... I thought it was some Right Wing extreists... anyway they zoomed out directly towards me and stopped 50 m from my bow and fished one out. swimmer off the beach after a Saturday night swim, me thinks.

Of course one would report thse things to the authorities if they see one, but go grab it? Well maybe tie it to the stern on a long line if it was in civilization... otherwsie let it go.

[Dulcesuenos]

We came across one still with a pulse. 3 years ago drunk young man jumping waves on a waverunner. Got knocked out, we found him in the water face down. One of my crew entered the water and began cpr which is a feat in itself in the water. I will refrain from bad comments about the fwc, coast guard and sheriffs office but the young man did not survive.
Wife used to do corpse recoveries. A body afloat is usually incredibly swollen to the point of bursting and huge amount of decomposition happens rapidly in the water and sun. Towing one would make a mess as would getting it on board w/ out a basket. Some were just what was showing at the surface with little below / beneath. If one died on passage several days from land with no large cold storage that creates a debate in itself. Btw we named our boat at the time Dulce Suenos or sweet dreams in memory of tue young man, wishing him sweet dreams and peace.

[jgbrown]

There's apparently an issue near here with certain religious funeral rituals and bodies getting chucked in the river and burnt. Police are aware but don't really care. They'll come down eventually to remove if nothing else happens. Marina personnel there do a morning dock walk and poke any messes back out to carry on elsewhere I've been told.

There is a fellow here doing a refit for a boat to do full burial at sea... which is illegal so far as I know. Waiting patiently to see the funeral procession come down the dock past the paddle boarders and tourists to the ugliest boat here.

[captain58sailin]

Depends the situation, offshore, log, photograph as best as possible. Look for anything that might identify the person, do not bring aboard.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

But no I don't think I'd want to haul a water logged partially decomposed corpse onto my deck which would probably just pull him apart. I'd take a ton of pictures, maybe fish out some ID if I was feeling crazy, and note the position/time.

Beyond that, it depends where I am. Off the coast of Mexico here I wouldn't do a damn thing else because of the narco cartel violence. That stuff is dead real and if you do anything that remotely gets in their world, you can no-kidding get murdered.

Of the coast of the US or a country that has its act together I'd definitely call it in and sit with the body, at least as long as they told me to (reasonably).

That's one of my concerns -- you try to do anything with the body, it may chance, and if the poor soul was a murder victim that might make it harder to solve the crime.

I would call the authorities no matter what was the closest country. But I wouldn't touch it in any way, including trying to attach something to it.