pascal's principle?

Question

You are on a run of bad luck and you fall into a small pool as hungry crocodiles lurking at the bottom are appreciating Pascal’s Principle. What does Pascal’s principle have to do with their delight?

Answer 1

Pascal's principle says, that in a incompressible fluid at rest the pressure is the same at height and it decreases with the height.
From this you can derive a general formula for the hydrostatic pressure in the pool: For depth h measured from the water surface
the pressure
p(d)=p0 + rho*g*h
where p0 is the atmospheric pressure at the surface, rho the density of water and g the standard gravity

I think there are two possible meanings of the formulation:

1. crocodiles are floating
On a body, which is completely under water, there are acting buoyancy forces. The water pressure on the top side of the body pulls it down the pressure at the bottom side pulls it up. Due to the height of the body the bottom pressure is larger than the pressure at the top and the difference gives the buoyancy force.
And if buoyancy force equals the gravity force on the crocodile floats.

2. crocodiles are pressed to the bottom of the pool
If the crocodiles are in direct contact with the solid bottom for the pool, something special happens. Since there is no water at the bottom side, there is no water pressure there. Hence only the pressure at the upper side acts on the crocodile and presses it on the bottom of the pool.

I think both situations are very comfortable ways to stay under water without doing anything.

Answer 2

It shows that even before Pascal formulated the principle and told us, the crocodiles were well aware of the principle.

Answer 3

Since the pool is not enclosed, I have no idea why they would even consider Pascal's Principle.