Compressed Gases And Fictional Sharks
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
I was flipping through the channels last night when I came across one of my favorite horror movies of all time: Jaws. While the shark doesn’t seem quite as large or as scary as it did when I was young, it still gives me shivers when that music starts to play, “duh-duh. duh-duh.” It was the ending of the movie, however, that got me to thinking about compressed gases.
*Warning: The next paragraph gives away the ending of the movie. Readers beware.*
While on their epic shark hunt, Chief Brody (played by Roy Scheider) knocks over a compressed air cylinder. Richard Dreyfuss’s character scolds him and warns him of the dangers of handling compressed gases (a warning I’m sure most of us have either given or received at some point in our careers). In the final showdown with the great fish, Chief Brody gets the shark to bite down on one of these compressed air cylinders as his boat is sinking. He shoots the cylinder which explodes immediately, blowing the shark to bits.
Moral of the story? Be careful with your cylinders. Cylinder safety and cylinder handling are critical themes in the gases and welding industry, and will be discussed extensively in the upcoming issue of Welding and Gases Today along with a host of other topics surrounding cylinders. Be sure to check it out when it reaches your desk in September.
