The Dead Sea's unusually high salt concentration means that people can easily float in the Dead Sea due to natural buoyancy. In this respect the Dead Sea is similar to the Great Salt Lake in Utah in the United States.

The key to this strange phenomenon is the high level of mineral salt within the Dead Sea. In fact, sitting at roughly 31.5 per cent, the Dead Sea has a salinity roughly ten-times that of a standard ocean.

The consequences of this are two fold: firstly, no water-dwelling creature or plant can survive in the Dead Sea, and secondly, humans can float due to its high density compared to our average mass. Simply put, the Dead Sea’s high salt content has the effect of making the human body more buoyant.