Lightning kills diver off Florida coast

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. - Lightning struck a diver's oxygen tank as he surfaced off Florida's Atlantic coast, killing him, authorities said.
The 36-year-old man was diving with three others Sunday off a boat near Deerfield Beach, about 40 miles north of Miami. He had surfaced about 30 feet from the boat when lightning struck his tank, said Deerfield Beach Fire Chief Gary Fernaays.

The other divers struggled to get the man back into the boat and radioed for help, Fernaays said. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was rushed to the beach, where a rescue crew gave him CPR. He was later pronounced dead at North Broward Medical Center in Pompano Beach.

A severe thunderstorm warning had been in effect Sunday for Broward County.

The Broward County Medical Examiner's Office planned an autopsy to determine if the man died by electrocution or drowned.

BEIJING - Chinese police tracking a suspicious vessel on a border river in southwest China got a shock when they found 270 crocodiles, a state news agency reported Monday.
Xinhua News Agency said the seizure was the largest this year in Guangxi region, where 25 illegally captured crocodiles were discovered in the first six months.

Border police noticed the boat trying to land on the Chinese side of the Beilun River, which marks the border with Vietnam, early on Sunday.

Xinhua said four people carried bags off the boat, but jumped into the river and swam away when they saw the police.

It said police found that the bags and other bags on the boat contained 270 crocodiles, which are on China's wildlife protection list. They will be sent to zoos.

Xinhua quoted the border police as saying the crocodiles eventually were destined for underground leather factories to be made into shoes and bags

-- Tacoma Zoo want one of these???

May