Behavior In Water

While humans require training to become proficient swimmers, many can float in water with minimal instruction. The human the ability to float in water is partly determined by the proportion of buoyant body material (fat), to dense body mass (muscles, bones, etc.).  In contrast, it is claimed that other hominids lack the ability to float, and that their proportion of buoyant to heavy body mass is lower than that of humans, causing them to sink. However direct measurements are not available.  While "great apes" may enjoy splashing around in water, and some do occassionally swim, most seem to avoid entering into deep bodies of water.  Perhaps this is the reason why moats can be an effective way to contain captive "great apes" within specified areas. It is also interesting to note and chimpanzees and bonobos speciated at about the time that the Zaire (Congo) river appeared(~2-3 million years ago), and that this  body of water has separated them ever since.  It remains to be seen if the tendency of apes to avoid deep water is due to an inability to swim proficiently, and/or due an innate fear of potential predators (such as crocodiles).  As for the claim that human babies innately like water, this may be true under adult supervision.  However babies and children who are unsupervised in water can drown.  There are no direct comparisons regarding how other baby hominids would react to water.