Pigs are often used in scientific experiments as a stand in for humans, because they are anatomically similar. Researchers from Simon Fraser University in Canada have been studying how pigs decompose underwater as a way to understand forensic human evidence.
Pigs are often used in scientific experiments as a stand in for humans, because their rate of decomposition is similar to humans according to forensic entomologists.
Researchers from Simon Fraser University in Canada have been studying how pigs decompose underwater as a way to understand how decomposition differs in a marine environment.
By constantly observing the conditions, including oxygen content and temperature of the water, scientists were able to see exactly what happens to a dead pig when it is in this setting.
The researchers used several instruments in Ocean Network Canada’s VENUS observatory, a cabled underwater facility near Vancouver, to explain how most of the carcasses were eaten by sea lice, or crustaceans like crabs and lobster.
The results of the study show that the seasonal changes in the ocean oxygen levels affect how the body is eaten.
When the oxygen level was higher in the water, crustaceans quickly ate the pig, but when oxygen levels were low, the crustaceans waited 92 days for the waters to be re-oxygenated to begin feeding on the carcass.
This information could help investigators try to figure out a time of death for submerged bodies.
The research team deployed 3 pig carcasses over a period of 3 years to conduct their studies. Cages are being utilized in ongoing studies by the same team to protect the carcasses from being eaten by sharks.