Box jellyfish This venomous creature kills more people in Australian waters every year than sharks and crocodiles combined. Box jellyfish aren’t aggressive, but swimmers bump into them by accident. If their tentacles touch your body, their poison seeps into your bloodstream and can stop your heart and lungs.
What to Do If Your Scuba Tank Runs Out of Air
1. Do not panic.
2. Signal to your fellow divers.
Make the “out-of-air” signal by slashing your hand across your throat.
3. Share a regulator if one is available.
If someone comes to help you, see if he or she has an extra regulator so you can share his or her tank of air.
4. Don’t give up.
If no one can help you, keep your regulator in your mouth as you swim to the surface. Air may expand in the tank, giving you more air than expected. Look straight up, so you don’t accidentally inhale water.
5. Swim to the surface slowly.
With the regulator still in your mouth, inhale and exhale (breathe out) slowly as you swim upward. You must keep exhaling. Exhaling releases the air in your lungs. WARNING: If you do not exhale continuously, your lungs will burst!
How to Survive Adrift at Sea
1. Stay on your boat as long as possible before you get into a life raft.
Your best chance of survival is on your boat, even if it can no longer sail. Only get into the life raft if the boat is sinking.
2. Make sure you grab your prepacked “grab bag.”
Inside should be: warm, dry clothes; blanket; hat; canned food; handheld VHF radio; handheld GPS; compass; jugs of drinking water; flashlight with extra batteries; handheld flares; fishing gear.
3. Bring fresh water!
A person can die in as little as two days without fresh water. Do not drink seawater because the salt in it will dehydrate you.
4. If you are in cold weather or cold water, get warm.
Your biggest danger is dying of hypothermia. Hypothermia is when the body gets cold and loses heat faster than it can make it. Put on dry clothes and blankets and stay out of the water.
5. Protect yourself from the sun.
If your life raft has a canopy, put it up. Wear a hat, long sleeves, and pants if you have them. Cover your eyes with sunglasses or fabric.
6. Find food.
You should have fishing gear in your grab bag. If not, you can make a hook out of an aluminum can or a piece of wire.
7. Try to get to land only if you know where it is.
Most rafts include small paddles, but life rafts are not easy to steer. Do not exhaust yourself, especially if you don’t know where you are going.
8. If you see a plane or boat, try to signal it.
Use a radio or handheld flare to get their attention. You can also signal with a small mirror.
How to Create a Flotation Device with Your Clothes
You’ve fallen overboard with all your clothes on, but without your life jacket. You can be saved by the seat of your pants (or by other clothes you have on), if you remain calm.
1. Tread water.
Keep your head above water the entire time.
2. Lighten your load.
Kick off your shoes. Your shoes act as weights and will drag you down. Remove any jewelry or other heavy items.
3. If you are wearing pants …
Wriggle out of them and tie each leg shut with a knot. Holding the waistband open, whip the pants over your head from back to front into the water. Once air is trapped inside, tie off the waistband using a belt or hold it closed with your hands. Lean on the inflated pants and float.
4. If you have a sundress, tank top, or tote bag …
Tie off the ends so air becomes trapped inside to make any of these items into a personal flotation device.
5. Refill the air every ten minutes.
To do this, untie one opening and wave the item over your head again.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
AUTHORS
Alexander Lurie is a pseudonym for two book-publishing professionals who live in New York and New Jersey.
David Borgenicht is the co-author of all the books in the “Worst-Case Scenario” series. He lives in Philadelphia.
CONSULTANT
Mike Perham started sailing at six years old. At fourteen, he became the youngest person to sail solo across the Atlantic, a record that remains to this day. At sixteen he completed a record-breaking round-the-world solo voyage. He lives in England.
ILLUSTRATOR
Yancey Labat got his start with Marvel Comics and has since been illustrating children’s books. He lives in New York.
Copyright © 2012 by Quirk Productions, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
WORST-CASE SCENARIO ® is a registered trademark of Quirk Productions, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.
ISBN 978-1-4521-2401-8
Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street, San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclekids.com
Visit www.worstcasescenarios.com to learn more about the series.
Image credits: Page 187: (nautical chart and compass) Moth/Dreamstime.com; (tablet) Jirkacafa/Dreamstime.com; (wood background and note papers) Grafvision/Dreamstime .com; (watch) Defun/Dreamstime.com. Page 188: (compass) Moth/Dreamstime.com. Page 190: (wood background and note papers) Grafvision/Dreamstime.com; Page 193: (bowline knot) Pancaketom/Dreamstime.com; (reef knot) Porbeagle/Dreamstime.com; (round turn and two half-hitches knot) digitalreflections/Shutterstock.com; (wood background and note papers) Grafvision/Dreamstime.com. Page 195: (compass) Zhuanghua/Dreamstime.com; (great white shark) Puddingpie/Dreamstime.com; (shark inset) Thediver123/Dreamstime .com; (tablet) Jirkacafa/Dreamstime.com; (wood background and note papers) Grafvision/ Dreamstime.com. Page 196: (Panama Canal) Chris Jenner/Shutterstock.com. Page 197: (nautical chart and compass) Moth/Dreamstime.com; (tablet) Jirkacafa/Dreamstime .com; (wood background and note papers). Page 198: (box jellyfish) Pniesen/Dreamstime .com; (puffer fish, lionfish) Lilithlita/Dreamstime.com; (wood background and note papers) Grafvision/Dreamstime.com.
WARNING: This is a work of fiction. When a life is at risk or a dangerous situation is at hand, safe alternatives may not exist. The Publisher, Authors, and Consultant disclaim any liability from any injury that may result from the use, proper or improper, of the information contained in this book. All the technical information in this book comes from experts, but we do not guarantee that the information contained herein is complete, safe, or wholly accurate to every scenario, nor should it be considered a substitute for your good judgment or common sense.
The Worst-Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure Novel: Deadly Seas Page 10