Science

The Grossest, Most Mesmerizing Time Lapse You May Ever See

Content Warning: Some images below might be considered disturbing to some. 

Understanding how a body responds to certain environments is important for forensic analysts to calculate time and cause of death.

In its efforts to understand how a body would fare in the ocean, forensic scientists at  Simon Fraser University in British Columbia put a pig carcass caged in the water and let sea lice have at it. It only took four days for the sea lice to reach bone.

“By the end of the fourth day, the sea lice had left and the pigs were reduced to bones,” forensic scientist Gail Anderson said, according to New Scientist.

Forensic Scientists at Simon Fraser University Observe Sea Lice, Shrimp on Pig Carcass Experiment

The carcass viewed close to the beginning of the experiment. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

Forensic Scientists at Simon Fraser University Observe Sea Lice, Shrimp on Pig Carcass Experiment

The carcass into day three. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

Next the shrimp came in and cleaned up the carcass further. New Scientist pointed out that scientists observed the bone turning black for 48 hours afterward. Scientist Lynne Bell is reported as saying this was “something that has never been seen before.” The team is identifying the microorganisms on the bone in an effort to better understand the chemistry that may have caused this color change.

Forensic Scientists at Simon Fraser University Observe Sea Lice, Shrimp on Pig Carcass Experiment

Reduced to bones. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

According to the description in the YouTube video, the team had previously seen shark activity around the carcass, so one carcass was left in open water while another was caged so only smaller organisms could access it. Here’s more from the description of what researchers observed:

[The sea lice] rapidly became several centimetres thick on the body and entered the carcass via the orifices, eating it from the inside out. The amphipods became so numerous that they covered the entire cage and bars and competitively excluded all other arthropods such as the big Three Spot Shrimp. In just a few days the carcass was entirely skeletonized and the amphipods lost interest and left. Then the Three Spot Shrimp returned to pick at the carcass, eventually removing all the cartilage. After a few days a Giant Pacific Octopus was curious about the cage, scaring off a shrimp.

 

Watch the time-lapsed video showing the organisms devour the carcass (Warning: Content might be considered graphic to some):

Other factors such as depth of the water and season play a roll in the decomposition observed as well.

“We have had a lot of disarticulated feet wash up on our shores in running shoes,” New Scientist reported Anderson saying. “This work is showing the public how crab and shrimp activity can result in severed limbs and that’s it’s a normal process.”

(H/T: GeekOSystem)

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Comments (102)

  • lylejk
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:58am

    Have to admit that was cool; the octopus at the end was a nice touch too. :)

    Report this comment

    lylejk  
  • tonypro
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:52am

    $6.3 million for the pig
    $1.2 million for the cage
    $1.8 million for the rope to lower into the water
    $ 23.4 million for the camera to film it ( film included )
    $ 115 million for the scientist

    The look on barry’s face when asked to leave the White House
    PRICELESS

    Report this comment

     
    • tonypro
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 12:37pm

      @MAN WITH THE MISSING BRAIN

      I’m sorry for you, that you are weak minded enough to have been brainwashed by the commies.
      I hope your condition improves when they no longer have power.

      Report this comment

       
    • Al J Zira
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 12:39pm

      There’s no such thing as a tax cut for a non-existent tax.

      The spending on the military creates jobs. Just ask the people in the Camp LeJeune area and anywhere else there’s a base located.

      Who said Romney was cutting everything you listed, the DNC? Debbie Wasserman-Schults? There’s a credible source. If you’re so interested in cutting the “waste” in the military why are you not for cutting waste in social programs that we know are replete with waste and fraud?

      Report this comment

      Al J Zira  
    • l4issez
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 12:40pm

      @MAN-ON-A-MISSION

      “$5,000,000,000 in Tax cuts for the rich
      $2,000,000.000 in additional spending for the military
      $7,000,000,000 in cuts to medicare, social services for the poor, planned parent hood, food for needy, social security, education………

      Watching Romney bend over the middle class including you with no vaseline and your surprised….

      Dumbness!!!!!!!!!”

      You predicate this on your belief that human life cannot continue without A) the government taking from those who produce and B) the government giving to those who fail to plan or mooch .. we have a name for this.. it’s called Marxist… except even Marxists believe in a strong military.

      Report this comment

      l4issez  
    • D-Fence
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 3:18pm

      @MANONAMISSION Who is John Gault? NOT YOU!

      Report this comment

      D-Fence  
    • SgtB
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 3:58pm

      @ Al J Zira, please let me be the first to tell you that your keynesian idea that gov’t theft to spend on military bases does not create jobs. I should know, I am a Marine and I’ve been around it enough to know the truth. You see. When the gov’t steals (taxes) from you and everyone else, it takes away from the fair market that you would be participating in freely and takes that amount and then rolls it in a mountain of debt and spends all of that money in concentrated areas, like Camp Lejeune, Tinker AFB, or any other large military or government installation. It DOES NOT!!! create jobs. It steals from the collective Citizens and then concentrates that stolen wealth in chosen areas and fields. There is no creation of wealth in what the gov’t does.

      I hold by the reality that ALL wealth comes from either nature’s abundance or human labor that produces a good or commodity. Government does not produce either of these things and their only legitimate end is to protect the lives of the Citizen so that we can produce wealth for ourselves.

      Report this comment

      SgtB  
    • Freedomrules
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 7:46pm

      To Man-on-a-mission:

      How to tell when a progressive is talking about the US budget… they have no idea how big the numbers really are… You are missing some zeroes…

      Try this one:

      - Debt added since Obama took office – $6,000,000,000,000
      - CBO estimate for cost of Affordable-Care-Act over next 10 years – $1,100,000,000,000
      - CBO estimate for Medicare cuts to help offset ACA costs over next 10 years – $716,000,000,000
      - Electing someone who actually understands how to balance a budget – PRICELESS

      Report this comment

      Freedomrules  
    • Stoneez
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 8:29pm

      @ man-on-a-mission…. what do you call what the Traitor-in-chief has left us with?!? We’ve already taken it up the ying-yang you dipstick!! Talk about dumbness….

      Report this comment

      Stoneez  
    • Puddle Duck
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:41pm

      One of the few expenditures that the Feds are actually required to oversee is the national defence force, and the security of the borders (is an extension of that). The problems we face have to do with the Feds encroaching into areas that they have no business being in nor any real authority afforded them in the Constitution. All of the social programs have saddled the taxpayers with burdens that can no longer be beared. The Feds have to cut back drastically is all areas, eliminationg enture departments, slashing spending and perks….the Gov’t has to be downsized and radically reduced in power. The private sector and the individual citizen must be let lose once again to do what they do best without the heavy boot of regulation/Gov’t on their necks. Things will HAVE to change since the national debt has hit and surpassed GDP….there is no other choice regardless of what Obama or any other liberal tells you (about debt being a non issue). They are crazy to ignore the dangerous level of debt. This nation cannot default it must be managed by a competent team that understands it’s time to tackle the big issues…NOW.

      Report this comment

      Puddle Duck  
    • becca_leigh
      Posted on October 25, 2012 at 5:23am

      @SGTB I’ve lived in Va Beach my entire life and it’s definitely true that the money spent on the military fuels local economies. The government is actually supposed to provide us with a military and the money they earn in their paychecks is what is then spent elsewhere (I’ve bartended in both Norfolk and Va Beach and could probably have gotten by financially on tips from the military alone). With the sequestration cuts coming up, we’ve had several studies on the effects they will have to the economy and the first people to feel the pain will be the small businesses according to economists from all ends of the spectrum. Va Beach had most of its growth in the 70s and 80s mostly because of NAS Oceana. We had a sustained 50%+ growth rate and now Va Beach is the most populous city in the state. Almost half of the economy in the region is dependent on the defense industry today.

      Report this comment

      becca_leigh  
  • 1proudAmerican
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:34am

    Looks like the octopus didn’t get the memo in time. He must not use AT&T. LOL

    Report this comment

    1proudAmerican  
    • Rick Steele
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:54am

      I guess this is why cement overshoes were so popular with the mob.

      Report this comment

      Rick Steele  
    • 1389AD
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 3:35pm

      If OBL actually was dumped at sea, he would have been eaten too, but probably by larger critters because there was no cage around him.

      Report this comment

      1389AD  
  • The-Monk
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:30am

    The video reminds me of the arguments and posts by wango….

    They start out dead and deteriorate to nothing.

    Report this comment

    The-Monk  
  • chips1
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:29am

    Showing Mohammad is not the best idea science has come up with lately.

    Report this comment

    chips1  
  • seaweed39
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:01am

    I bet that Natalie Hollaway who disappeared in Aruba is forever gone.

    I wonder if organized crime and other criminals know about this?
    Possibly a new way to dispose of bodies- I suppose.

    Report this comment

    seaweed39  
  • Southpaw
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:56am

    It’s a simplistic view, but I couldn’t help but notice how detached the pig was at the end. It was a pile of bones, not a whole skeleton. When they find dinosaur skeletons that are together, do they really think that dinosaur was not encased in mud quickly (by a flood)?

    Report this comment

    Southpaw  
    • SgtB
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 4:03pm

      There are simple ways to compare the depths and thus the relative time disparities between different fossilized remains. Fossils are not all located in one layer of the dirt. If there was a flood, it did not cover the entire world killing off the dinosaurs wholesale like you seem to think. I think you’ve been taking works of fiction for fact.

      Report this comment

      SgtB  
  • OniKaze
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:49am

    Ahhh Mother nature at work…. You gotta love how nature has ways of dealing with biological matter..

    Take Away: Don’t die in the ocean, unless you don’t want your family to have remains to bury.

    Report this comment

    OniKaze  
    • pyeatte
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 12:36pm

      Think of what you are eating when you eat a shrimp.

      Report this comment

      pyeatte  
    • 00100111
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 1:55pm

      Shrimp are the cockroaches of the sea, but people wouldn’t eat them if they knew they were bottom feeder scavengers. I guess it’s a lot the same way democrats call themselves “liberals” instead of bottom feeder scavengers…

      Report this comment

      00100111  
  • NSDQ
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:18am

    “We have had a lot of disarticulated feet wash up on our shores in running shoes,” New Scientist reported Anderson saying. — WTH?? Which plague is this ? AND THE OCEANS TURNED TO BLOOD (due to all the severed feet in runningshoes) o.0 ??

    Report this comment

    NSDQ  
  • 80mesh
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:10am

    this is exactly how the commy socialists destroy our freedoms … nibble by nibble

    ive lost a few friends to the sea commercial fishing in Alaska … this video hit home

    Report this comment

    80mesh  
    • Thomas
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:28am

      The socialist buy the grasshoppers votes with the ants money.

      Report this comment

      Thomas  
  • TheMajority
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:54am

    Remember when BP sprung a leak at deep sea in our gulf, and obama never waved the Jones act so the super sucker tankers could come in and contain the oil (unions are no good in a crisis), letting the oil hit the beaches on purpose?

    They never did find all that “Plume” oil, did they? I guess the Earth can clean up the Earth better than we can.

    Report this comment

    TheMajority  
    • Proverbs17-12NLT
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:16am

      Well put ! Didn’t obama and his tabloid news outlets claim that it was the worst environmental disaster in American history? If it was how come we don’t hear a peep of it now? obama and democrats politicized it so we all now get screwed at the gas pump because of them. Next time you shell out $100 for 20 gallons of gas, thank an obama supporter while your driving, you know the ones with the stickers all over them. Ride there ass at red lights, a little swerve over close on the freeway while your passing, you know the drill.

      Report this comment

      Proverbs17-12NLT  
    • richard the lion-hearted
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:37am

      @THEMAJORITY – You are so right, although I in no way condone the reckless poisoning of water or land by unscrupulous individuals or companies if the case may be, as I’m sure you don’t either, but this brain-washed ideology of many who believe the propaganda put forth by those in government (like Obama) who would have you believe that if you’re a successful multi-million dollar company that you are automatically evil (by their definition of which I don’t understand since they are mostly godless heathens as part of their ideology). YOU know, I can tell by your comment, and appreciate it.

      And what’s with the first few comments by some here? Bunch of raging morons or extremely smart with no hand-written skills best I can tell.

      Report this comment

      richard the lion-hearted  
    • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 12:50pm

      @PROVERBS17-12NLT
      You mean those people driving 80-90 MPH in a Prius, who preach to us about saving gas?

      Report this comment

      Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
    • Proverbs17-12NLT
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 1:23pm

      Anonymous, I did say while passing. Those obama drivers are the most oblivious idiots on the road.

      Report this comment

      Proverbs17-12NLT  
  • Jenasus
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:46am

    This little piggy went to the bottom of the sea so we can see the pigs spirit set free.

    Report this comment

    Jenasus  
  • HappyConservative
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:40am

    The octopus at the end was pretty cool!

    Report this comment

    HappyConservative  
    • AmazingGrace8
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 11:36am

      Me too. Hey, did you notice he/she PROBED with the left eye & left arm? Guess it is how he/she would pivot whether it was a left arm.
      I remember the movie theater and the intense feeling from the audience when I was a little girl when I saw 20K Leagues Under The Sea….like it was just yesterday.
      Funny thinking about when I was a little girl, sitting on the upper level of a high school gym during a Christmas concert. My mom would choose the area where there was a column where she could rest her back during the concert. At times I would curl up and doze alittle but I would sit-up and look at the iron rafters of the gym and could feel a stirring in my soul when the choir would sing “The King Of Kings”…Forever, n’ever

      Report this comment

      AmazingGrace8  
  • woodyee
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:39am

    That’s not disgusting. It’s a wonder the researchers didn’t remove the carcass after two days and strained it for juices to add to fresh condiments, or just a little salt around the rim of a shot glass full as a wash down for Budweiser.

    Pork sushi anyone?

    Report this comment

    woodyee  
  • FightingBear
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:38am

    I guess that was Bin Laden’s fate….somehow it seems fitting that he shared the same fate as a pig in a science experiment.

    Report this comment

    FightingBear  
    • 1389AD
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 7:41pm

      I was thinking the same thing!

      Except his body wasn’t in a cage, so larger critters got to take some bites out of him too.

      Report this comment

      1389AD  
  • raptor45
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:37am

    Nothing is wasted in nature and that is a marvelous plan by a brilliant Creator. Just part of the life cycle.

    Report this comment

    raptor45  
  • Proverbs17-12NLT
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:22am

    Word on the street is it’s mooch’s aborted fetus donated for science

    Report this comment

    Proverbs17-12NLT  
    • Amica
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:35am

      I’m no fan of either Obama, but that was an utterly vile thing to say.

      I’m thinking you’re probably a liberal planted to add to the narrative of hateful conservatives.

      Report this comment

      Amica  
  • silverstacker
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:12am

    Other factors such as depth of the water and season play a roll in the decomposition observed as well.

    role #correction

    Report this comment

    silverstacker  
  • Mr.Fitnah
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:08am

    MMM Bacon.

    Report this comment

    Mr.Fitnah  
  • LS1XJ
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:08am

    proof that everyone loves bacon.

    Report this comment

    LS1XJ  
  • LakewoodEd
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:04am

    No such things as leftovers in nature.

    Some sort of munching sound effects would have helped. Boring, otherwise.

    Report this comment

    LakewoodEd  
  • huey6367
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 8:52am

    Well that was disgusting. Lunch anyone?

    Report this comment

    huey6367  
  • TheEndIsComing
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 8:45am

    Shrimp are the cockroaches of the sea. Shrimp cocktail anyone?

    Report this comment

    TheEndIsComing  
    • bobad
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:06am

      Shrimp eat precisely what we eat: Meat of deceased animals. And don’t say we eat only fresh meat. We eat aged meat that’s much older than that pig!

      Report this comment

      bobad  
    • chucksue351
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:18am

      that is why the are on the no fly list in the scriptures (lev ch 11)

      Report this comment

      chucksue351  
    • Right wing nut job
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:47am

      Basically anything that is a garbage eater or bottom feeder is biblically unclean. Before anyone comes up with “Jesus made it clean” you need to put his words into historical context. In Mark 7:15 he was speaking to the pharasies about ceremonial handwashing, not foods which were on the no eat list. Start at Mark 7:1 and begin there to gain proper context. Jesus was a Torah observant Jew. Pork, Shellfish, Catfish and the like are NASTY. Always have been, always will be. God wasn’t wrong when he gave the law to Moses.

      Report this comment

      Right wing nut job  
    • TheEndIsComing
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 10:22pm

      Don’t have to convince me. I already believe the Bible.

      Report this comment

      TheEndIsComing  
  • nous defions
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 8:40am

    Kinda cheers me up thinking the same thing happened to bin laden!

    Report this comment

    nous defions  
    • woodyee
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:41am

      As my former FAILED governor would say (imitate deep euro-accented voice) “Hm, ya! Dat’s a gude wan!”

      LOL!

      Report this comment

      woodyee  
    • MCON29
      Posted on October 23, 2012 at 9:53am

      Nice thought, too bad their isnt any video

      Report this comment

      MCON29  
  • Eastinfection
    Posted on October 23, 2012 at 8:39am

    Watercress Pork Rib Soup:

    Ingredients
    600 gm watercress, wash and cut
    500 gm pork rib shopping list
    5 pcs big red dates,
    6 pcs honey dates
    80 ml water

    How to make it

    Blanch pork ribs and drain. Add all ingredients into the pot and bring to boil for 15 mins and turn heat to low and simmer for 3 hours.
    Serve and enjoy!

    Report this comment

    Eastinfection  

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