On Tue, 2 May 1995, Mike Patterson wrote:
> Actually water is a very poor conductor of heat. It has a high heat
> capicity. Changing the temperature of water requires lots of energy.

Right, but that's precisely why it will kill you quicker than cold air, or
even wet skin exposed to cold air. It's forever sucking the heat of you,
as you and the water try to come to a thermal equilibrium. Unfortunately,
you (or the birds) don't have nearly enough calories to bring the water to
a temperature suitable to your body's existence, so it stays cold and you
get hypothermia.

Bummer...

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Michael R. Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu
http://salmo.cqs.washington.edu/~wagap/mike.html