Now this freaks me out. Normally I don't get too caught up in various public scares, but a brain-eating amoeba found in warm water? I happen to live next to what could only be a breeding ground for these things, Utah Lake. It's shallow, it's prone to having sediment stirred up, it's warm, and it's got all kinds of nastiness going on. Okay, it's story time. One of my friends owns a boat. I know, it's a shocker. Anyway, (and this story is about 5 years old) he went out on Utah Lake to go skiing. That's not unusual either, as it's a popular recreation destination due to proximity and not necessarily quality. They were out on the water pulling one of his friends and when he crashed, he ran his leg through the carcass of a dead cow. Ugh. That pretty much sold me on never going back there again. The amoeba thing does too, because the winds churn up so much sediment from the bottom that I would consider Utah Lake more dangerous than Lake Havasu or some of the areas in Florida for getting this up your nose, especially in a water skiing crash.
5 comments:
ewwwwww. Utah lake is seriously gross. I wouldn't be surprised to see almost anything in there. Stay away.
I read about the article on internet yesterday. Scary. I don't think there is a benefit in eating my bird-size crazy brain though. That would kill the amoeba, ha ha ha.
I've been waterskiing in the great petri dish only once, and I must say it wasn't a bad experience.
Though I also must say it doesn't surprise me in the least to hear Utah Lake could possibly cultivate a brain-eating amoeba. What does that tell you?
Utah lake is only gross because it's so shallow. I'm sure there are tons of animal carcasses in deeper lakes--you just don't run into them.
Smash is right in that most of what makes Utah Lake gross is the shallowness. I know there's a mess on the bottom of Lake Powell, but due to the depth I won't be getting carcassed or amoebaed. I've been paranoid whenever I've skiied there (and it's been a lot) that because of the depth of the lake and the murkiness of the water and my height that I'll touch the bottom. That's something that I never want to do.
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