Horrifying video shows what really happens if you drop food into the middle of the ocean

The ocean is a scary and dangerous place, especially the further down you go, but one terrifying video shows why dropping food into the ocean might not be the best idea in the world.

There are countless secrets to be found in the vast and deep blue sea – hence why so many scientists are fascinated by what has been found and remains yet to be discovered across the globe – yet there's an equal if not greater amount of reasons why you should probably be scared of its waters too.

You don't need to watch something like Jaws to be afraid of the prospect of sharks though, and anyone with thalassophobia (the fear of deep bodies of water) needs just the suggestion of never-ending darkness to send shivers up their spine.

That's why one short but effective video of food being dropped from a height into a well populated part of the ocean is so terrifying, as you can only imagine things being far worse if it was yourself instead of the comparatively smaller snack.

As shared on the aptly named r/AbruptChaos subreddit, the post titled 'Can you imagine falling in?' accompanies a video of someone dropping what looks to be a chicken nugget from a platform about 50 feet above the ocean.

While it takes a couple of seconds for the finger-sized nugget to splash into the water, what looks like hundreds of fish immediately swarm it the moment that it makes contact, causing a violent flurry to ensue over a mere few bites.

As the title suggests, if the fish were that aggressive over a tiny chicken nugget you can only imagine how ferocious they would become if an entire human body was served to them on a proverbial platter, and if this doesn't make you want to stay away from the water I don't know what will.

Combine that with a healthy dose of vertigo too and you've got a recipe for fear, yet you can't help but keep your eyes transfixed on the ever-repeating chaos of it all.

Some comments underneath the post have given anyone stunned with fear a bit of reprieve though, as its speculated that the sound and impact of a human falling into the water – even from a short distance – would be enough to scare surrounding fish away, giving you a short period of time to get to safety.

Others have speculated that smaller fish tend not to go for humans, and typically only target food that's already 'dead' too, so that's another safety barrier if you were to be unfortunate enough to fall into piranha-infested waters.

If you were wondering where on Earth you'd need to be to find fish like this though, one commenter shares their own similar experience.

"Offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. I work out there [...] These fish learned to hang out around oil platforms because there's always a consistent meal time.

"They're some kind of trash fish, not for eating. The scary thing is the bigger fish underneath them. I usually throw an apple in the water to find out what's underneath. After these fish attack and can't eat the apple, the next thing is barracudas, they show no interest in the apple.

"What comes next are sharks... They make circles around the apple until they lose interest as well. I see hammerheads out there all the time [...] Let's just say that if someone were to fall overboard they may not make it very long."