My question gets read out on Dr Karl's BBC 5 Live phone-in in the early hours of 22 May 2014.

Dr Karl's 5 Live Science Phone-in 22 May 2014, feat. Simon Parkin

Isle Of Wight

For the KCRW 24-hour radio race, I went to Sidmouth on the south coast of England to meet up with a couple of swimmers and they taught me what I should know about swimming outdoors.

Simon John Parkin: Sidmouth Swimmers

The Lepidopterist

Junior Architect

In St Ives, Cornwall, there's a surprise for beachgoers as a mermaid washes up on the beach. Laura, also known as the St Ives Mermaid, talks about her passion for the sea, being underwater and all things fantastical.

To find out more about the St Ives Mermaid visit her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StIvesMermaid

Swim Stories - St Ives Mermaid

Inspired by the fictional library in Richard Brautigan's The Abortion: An Historical Romance 1966

simonjohnparkin