Before you take livestock as carry-on, read this!

[morepunkthanewe]

I just made my voyage back home to MIami, and I had the pleasure of dealing with American Airlines. I used a gift certificate back home and purchased a few corals on the morning of my flight. Apparently they aren't allowing any liquids to be carried on board, I'm assuming because they could be flammable or toxic. However, I asked nicely that I remove my corals from my carry-on so they wouldn't be x-rayed. I told them that they were tropical fish, obviously because its easier for them to relate to a fish than a somewhat "inanimate rock". First they had a problem with the fact that I asked that something not go through the x-ray. After some finaggling they said that it woudl be ok if they saw that it was alive, thus proving that the liquid in the bags was non toxic to animals. However, its tough to get a coral to get up and swim around...So they said that they were going to have to open the bags so I could taste the water to show it wasn't toxic! I told them that I had just bought them (apparent by the prices still on the side of the bags, but that didn't do much good. By this time there were quite a few employees and soldiers all standing around not knowing what to do. One very old decripid employee carefully pointed out that Delta wouldn't allow a child to take his turle on board, so they had better check out the rules. Byt his time I had shown everyone my reciept from the fish store, and they were pretty much satisfied with me taking them on board finally. However just as I thought it was ok to go, a women from American Airlined came over and said she checked the computer and only cats, dogs, and birds are allowed as carry on!!! So apparently loud, smelly, allergy causing animals are allowed on board with all the passengers. So luckily my mother was still there to take the corals back to the store for a refund, but had she not been there they were going to make me either leave my corals to die in a pile of confiscated lighters and nail files, or miss my flight.

When I had told them that I had done this in the past with no problems, they just replied that "things have changed". Apparently, fish are more dangerous and the water that they swim in might spontaneously combust. Aaargh. Well that;s my story, I hope that it doesn't happen to anyone else out there.

p.s. Does anyone know whether an x-ray machine would really be that harmful to our animals?

p.p.s. BY the way before you ask, I was going to pack the corals as stowed luggage first, but they don't allow styrofoam boxes as checked luggage

p.p.s. as I write this I just remebered that they allow passengers to carry on lobsters (I flew from Maine) I fact there is a store in the airport that sells them so you can take them on board. If that's not a double standard, then I don't know what is. I think I'm going to write a letter to American Airlines.

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
X-ray should do no harm to coral... but do we have any dentist here to do some experiment?

FYI, Coral skeleton will show up like bone under X-ray, and I bet they will ask you to open your lugguage when they see them.

 

[Anonymous]

Too bad you couldn't box the corals individually, and throw them in with your checked luggage.
Good thing your Mom was there.

 

[Coraltank]

morepunkthanewe,ya should have bought a lobster and told them that the corals were the container it came in.They might have bought it.

 

[danmhippo]

Ask Tazdevil, didn't he said he works with Radiation (X-ray)?

 

[24Tom]

Morepunk:

This will really piss you off. This october I flew continental Atlanta to Newark. I was in the last seat on the plane. The company is bleeding money and they give me a Sam Adams for free. Thats not so bad but it was in a bottle.

 

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine that it would be much more than say a chest x-ray (~300mr) and is definitely less than 1 Rem. People start getting damaged (ie sick) at about 100X that level. However, your coral would be getting this dose to a few ounces of tissue instead of 100+ lbs of tissue (sorry if I use r and rem interchangably). So it is conceivable that it is enough of an acute dose to finish the coral in short order. I used to be the chem/radcon officer on a sub, but have forgotten most of that stuff.

The answer is I don't know. I would imagine that corals might be more sensitive to it than we are (it's that way for the visible light spectrum). I would say there's also a great chance that it would encourage to bleaching in the days/weeks following if it survives the immediate affects.

Ty

 

[jsteinman]

ASctually on Delta I have taken several trips to FL and had small styro boxed corals and taken them through Xray. They survived fine. But then again I could imagine the hassle I would have to go through now a days, not to mention the prolonged exposure tehy would recieve from Security running the box back and forth in the ray machine trying to figure out what was in it. I could hear it now, "That bone looking thing could be broken and a sharp edge used as a weapon...". If I happen to make it to FL this year, I will have the shop I buy from ship it to avoid any potential hassle.

 

[tazdevil]

The answer is no, it wouldn't harm your corals. The amount used doesn't even expose film, and when we use regular xray equipment, it would slightly expose film (xray film itself is exposed by a light emitting phosphur-emits light when xraye'd). The person's operating the euqipment have radiation badges as required by the nuclear regulatory commission, although they're exposed to only a fraction of what xray/flouroscopy technologists are (or nuclear medicine techs, either). I'm sure it would look rather interesting, as the calcium portions would show up bright, the actual living coral tissue as a mid grey, with the background black (or reversed if that's the preference).

 

[Alf3482]

I took a trip out to the Carolina's in october of 2001 and i took my best freind some corals. they went thru the x-ray with no problems. they didn't even ask to look in my carry on bag. All corals arrived just fine.