Although it is somewhat controversial, some forensic pathologists advocate testing for diatoms to identify drowning victims (12). Diatoms are a group of ubiquitous single-celled algae found in freshwater and salt water, soil, air, and food. Diatoms found post-mortem in the liver, bone marrow, and kidneys prove the hematogenous dissemination of the organisms from the lungs due to a beating heart during the asphyxia event. It is also important to demonstrate diatoms in the drowning medium, often water.