A woman was enjoying a walk on the beach with her husband when it became a scene that seemed out of a movie – and not a romance, but rather one of horror.
Jamie Acord was strolling at the edge of the water at Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg, Maine, when she sunk to the hips in a matter of a second.
‘I can’t get out!’ Acrod shouted to her husband, Patrick.
Her husband quickly pulled her out of the sand, which filled itself in instantly.
The couple were left relieved, yet baffled.
Jamie said: ‘I couldn’t feel the bottom. I couldn’t find my footing.’
They found out it was quicksand – but not the kind of quicksand in the movies.
In real life, quicksand is called supersaturated sand and people who fall into it do not sink but rather stay afloat. That allows them to maneouver their way out of the trap, according to Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry spokesman Jim Britt.
In action movies, quicksand victims get stuck and the more they struggle, the more they sink. They eventually vanish unless they find a vine or branch or something of the like to hold on to.
In reality, people and animals that fall into quicksand usually float and do not sink to the bottom. That is because quicksand is denser than bodies.
‘Quicksand—that is, sand that behaves as a liquid because it is saturated with water—can be a mucky nuisance, but it’s basically impossible to die in the way that is depicted in movies,’ states Britannica.
Those who fall in quicksand are advised to lean back so body weight is distributed over a wider area.
‘Moving won’t cause you to sink. In fact, slow back-and-forth movements can actually let water into the cavity around a trapped limb, loosening the quicksand’s hold,’ states Britannica. ‘Getting out will take a while, though.’
He said: ‘People hear the word quicksand they think jungle movie. The reality with this supersaturated sand is you’re not going to go under.’
Jamie took social media, explaining that she was collecting trash on June 1 and had her hands full when the quicksand got her.
‘She said: Just an FYI to all you peeps who love George Popham Beach I was there Saturday with my husband enjoying a leisurely stroll on the Beach along the high tide mark(almost to the dunes) when I fell into a sink hole.
‘The state Park Rangers stated they have had some reports of the sand being like quick sand.
‘I fell in up to my hips, that’s 2.5 feet. Patrick Acord said one minute I was there and the next I was not. I had to have him pull me out I could not do it on my own.
‘I could not feel the bottom and I could not get a footing. My feet are scratched up as are my knees probably from rocks or sticks in the hole.
‘Had I been a small child I would have disappeared into the hole. (I’m not kidding they would have been sucked in).
‘No sooner did Patrick pull me out did the hole disappear. The Rangers said that because of the flooding and erosion over the last year the river near Morse mountain is now curving around the front of the beach into the ocean and it’s causing the quicksand like sand on the beach causing people to struggle more or get stuck when walking.’
Winter storms rerouted a river spilling into the ocean, which softened sand at Maine’s busiest state park beach. Park staff have erected warning signs for visitors, which number more than 225,000 annually, according to Britt.
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