Dumpster diving

The floors of lakes and oceans are often a mess, free-divers say, and golf balls appear far more frequently down there than marine objects such as scuba tanks, anchors or fishing knives. That’s because the decks of large vessels often double as driving ranges, despite maritime regulations that prohibit the disposal of plastics at sea. The U.S. Navy and commercial cruise lines switched a few years ago to using biodegradable balls, but Titleists and Dunlops still abound. “Golf balls are so prevalent they seem to be part of the natural marine environment,” wrote SpearSlinger1 in a community forum at the free-diving website DeeperBlue.net. “Kind of like saying, ‘I found 500 sea urchins today.’ ”

Here is a forum sampling of the more unusual “objects found while free-diving”:

Shiny new

red bicycle

Cat with a rock

tied to it

Necklace made of rotting nuts

Two dozen

transparent plastic sandals, sizes

ranging from

toddler to NBA

center

Goat carcass

U.S. Navy flight deck helmet

Single-engine plane, fuselage and wings intact

Bra

Casio watch,

still working