I've lost cell phones before. Left on the plane. Foolishly put on top of the car while I was loading stuff in the trunk. But never have I had a phone swallowed by a fish.

The UK's Sun -- sure, not the most erudite paper, but reliable enough on matters of mobile phones swallowed by creatures of the sea -- reports that a local businessman lost his phone a week ago while lounging on the beach. He thought it gone for good, but some time later his girlfriend received a strange call from the phone... from a fisherman who said he'd found the handset in the belly of a 25 pound cod.

After cleaning up and drying out the handset -- a Nokia -- the man says it still works... though it obviously it's now on the smelly side. He is still using it today, although it eventually began acting up and he had to "get the circuit board changed in the end."

What's the takeaway from this fish tale? For starters, some cell phones are a lot tougher than you think. If the seal is good and a lot of moisture stays out of the inside of the case, there's a good chance that a phone will survive a drop in the ocean or a few days in the belly of a cod, at least for a while.

Of course, the second point almost goes without saying: Cod will eat anything.

Dropped your phone in the drink? Here's my handy guide on how to attempt to salvage it.