The salts found in the Dead Sea are mineral salts , just like you find in the oceans of the world, only in extreme concentrations. The water in the Dead Sea is deadly to living things. Fish accidentally swimming into the waters from one of the several freshwater streams that feed the Sea are killed instantly, their bodies quickly coated with a preserving layer of salt crystals and then tossed onto shore by the wind and waves. The guy to the left is actually floating in the Dead Sea. Not to us .
Humans are remarkably adaptable.
We can swim in the Dead Sea, just like we can swim in the ocean. That's what's so cool about the Dead Sea. Because of the extremely high concentration of dissolved mineral salts in the water it's density is way more than that of plain old fresh water. In fact, people are so bouyant in this water, it makes it kinda tough to actually swim. Most people like to just kick back in the water and read.