Everyone knows, even by instinct, that inhaling water is bad. What most of us don't know is saltwater and freshwater both drown you from suffocation, but the process on a chemical level is very different. When ocean water enters your lungs, your body attempts to regulate the high salt content. Blood will enter into the lungs and thicken because the salt cannot be absorbed into the bloodstream. The process is very different from freshwater, where the water in the lungs can be absorbed into your bloodstream. When the blood cells attempt to absorb too much water at once they burst, leading to a quick death. But what about salt water? What happens to you while your blood thickens? Well, the good news is that salt water takes longer to kill you, leaving more time to be rescued. It also means you may stay conscious up to the point when you die, about ten minutes after the moment when you first inhaled it.