Stranded in a small island

This is a simple scenario of being stranded in a small island from a sinking ship. Let's assume that there is drinking water to lessen the problem. Now, the question is this - can you live off by eating only seafood? Will it not harm your body? And how would you get fish and other sea creatures when you have nothing with you when you arrived. The island has little vegetation but nothing edible.

For me, I would think of a way to catch fish. If there are shellfish then I think that is easier to catch or collect. And perhaps I would learn how to eat raw fish because there is nothing to build a fire. And I can safely say that I will survive in that island provided there are no predators like snakes.

 

Makes me remember of a book written by Robinson Crusoe about his survival on an island all alone for many years. One is forced to act subhuman and you soon loose inhibitions and live like an animal. This is a subconscious adaptive mechanism for survival. As you study the island over time and desperation sets in, your survival skills become more refined, you become an expert. So you would be able to improvise fish hooks and discover fauna and flora that can be eaten.

 

If there are rocks or at stones, you could build some sort of rock/stone fish trap and hope that fish or something edible will be trapped when the tide comes in. There are people who've used this method to get themselves some food but there are no guarantees that anything will be caught so you'll have build numerous traps and hope for the best.

 

Well I think you could survive on seafood. I do agree catching shell fish or sea urchins are easier, than catching regular fish. Still you won't last very long without vegetation. The best thing to do is figure out how to get some fire, by making a bow and drill. If you can get a fire started you can cook your food and try to make a smoke signal for any passing planes. As far as the snakes you would have to be careful, but if you make something to kill them with that could be more food for you. I think on a island with no vegetation there would be no other choice but to eat meat.

 

You will be forced to fish since that will be the best option. You will also need to adopt to eating wild vegetables and insects like crickets. I know that getting clean water will not be a major problem. Nowadays most wild fruits are edible. You will collect some for your diet. As time goes by, you will get used to trapping and eating birds.

 

I believe you can survive on seafood but most of all I would hope that you have lots of coconuts on the island because you can drink and eat them and use them to even make a fire!

 

I'm glad I watched Cast Away with Tom Hanks because he showed the importance of learning preparation by not being prepared mentally at all in any way. He had trouble doing everything from building fires, to catching fish, but over time as you watch the movie, he masters everything. It would suck to be in that situation. but if you were mentally prepared, it might not be that bad.

I don't think that eating fish all the time could harm your body, people who choose not to eat meat do not die or get really sick. Beside that, there are people out there who physically cannot eat something specific for a long period of time because of their particular health status.