Flotsam & Jetsam

A Fishy Regulator. While it's too late to include this in our book There's a Cockroach in My Regulator, we had to share this bizarre story from subscriber Lada Simlek (Croton on Hudson, NY). "I did a night dive in Long Island Sound with a buddy, and we surfaced in a school of thousands of small fish. They were densely packed, perhaps an inch apart, and attracted to our lights. They were hitting us so much it felt like someone throwing gravel at us. Weeks later, my buddy went diving, and the air tasted and smelled bad. One of the fish had swam inside his regulator and died there. The regulator had to be boiled to get the smell out. So it ain't just cockroaches."

Diving Medicine for Scuba Divers, 4th Edition. Renowed dive medical expert Carl Edmonds, whoco- authored this book, tells us it has been recently updated and is now available online for free at www.divingmedicine.info . You can download the entire book or each of the 43 chapters separately. "Because we do not apply copyright restrictions, dive instructors and clubs are encouraged to supply copies to their clients and members," Edmonds says.

Sending Tanks by Mail? Make sure all the air is out of it before you wrap it up, unlike some idiot who apparently shipped a full tank and caused havoc in Kirkland, WA for a day last month. Post office workers called the fire and police departments last month to report a suspicious package that was hissing and releasing gas. The post office and a nearby apartment complex were evacuated, and all roads leading to the area were closed. "We're going to treat this as the worst case scenario," said fire department battalion chief Mike Haschak told the Kirkland Reporter. The Haz Mat team called in to investigate the package ultimately discovered it to be "hissing scuba equipment," which was also confirmed by the package's sender when he was contacted. No word on whether he got a rebuke or a bill for the neighborhood shutdown.