What’s this plastic dolphin with slits?

What the Product Is
Dive Sticks are hard-plastic pool toys designed to sink and stand on the pool floor so kids can dive down and retrieve them as a game.

How to Recognize Them (Based on the Photos and Product Description)
These dive sticks are typically:

• Hard plastic, about 7 inches long
• Shaped like worms, fish, and seahorses
• Built with ridges or slotted “spine” sections along the body
• Made to sink upright because of a weighted bottom/tail

Common color combinations described include:

• Worms: green with an orange weighted ball or pink with a yellow weighted ball
• Fish: pink/yellow or green/orange
• Seahorses: yellow with a blue tail or pink with a yellow tail

Markings and packaging details noted:

• “Made in China” printed on some fish and seahorses
• “Sun and Shade” listed on the packages
• Sold in mesh bags labeled “Dive Sticks / Batons de plongée” (often marked 6+)

How They Were Sold
Packaging variations described:

• Two worms per package
• Three fish or three seahorses per package

What They’re Used For
Dive sticks are used for simple pool games that build confidence underwater:

• Throw and retrieve: toss them into the pool and race to collect them
• Dive practice: encourage controlled dives and underwater swimming
• Group games: points for each stick recovered or timed challenges

Why They Became a Safety Concern
The key issue is the way pre-weighted dive sticks can land and remain upright in shallow water.

That design creates a risk that a child could:

• Slip, fall, or land on an upright stick, leading to serious puncture-type injuries

Because of this hazard, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) banned pre-weighted dive sticks in 2001.

Key Safety Takeaways
If you have similar dive toys, practical precautions include:

• Do not use pre-weighted dive sticks in shallow water
• Remove any toys that can stand upright on the pool bottom
• Choose alternatives designed to:
  • Lie flat on the pool floor, or
  • Use soft, flexible materials with no rigid upright profile
• Maintain close adult supervision during any diving or underwater retrieval games

Who Created Them and When They Appeared

• The product information provided identifies them as mass-produced items with “Made in China” markings, and sold in packaging associated with “Sun and Shade.”
• A specific individual inventor is not identified in the provided materials.
• The clearest historical marker is the regulatory action: pre-weighted dive sticks were sold prior to the CPSC ban in 2001, which effectively defines the era when this design was commonly on the market.