Lionfish/DM's don't care!

[alohagal]

ALSO: Lionfish on Punta Tunich twilight dive. I asked divemaster what he is going to do. He says, "I think they are a beautiful fish, I don't want to kill them. There are too many now to do anything about it."

Of course I tried to tell him what they are doing to the Bahamas etc. He just shrugged. I asked him if he was going to report it. He said "I actually was the one who found the first Lion fish here in Cozumel. It was a big deal then. Now it is too late. Octupus eat everything else here too"

This is the third Cozumel DM (two SCC, one BA) who shrug shoulders at sighting of LIONFISH.

What can I say!

 

[Gen San Chris]

Obviously they have very good Dive Masters in that area, good on them!

 

[jjwdiver]

Would it not be better to write "this particular DM" as opposed to DM's dont care? 1 bad apple... (or 3)

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Many times it seem like what we call invasive species are not. I'm coming round to believing that when man introduces changes that it really is natural. Darwin and evolution are using us to modify nature. Stupidity is bringing about change but it is still change. And doesn;t everybody want that. (They sure did here in the last election).

Just as I feel that climate change, regardless of cause, is a natural phenomena. Dinosaurs farted us into an ice age or so it seems. Then Ogg and his buddies fired up their flintstone mobiles and got us out of it. So what. It is happening again. We are changing things by just being on this planet until she decides to throw us off. Maybe the spread of lionfish is part of a bigger plan by nature? Leave em alone. With any luck they'll keep divers who are too stupid to leave em alone and get stung out of the water. Very pretty fish IMO as well. Just like the zebra mussels in Lake Erie. We can see the wrecks now!

Nature has ways of adjusting to changes. We are the ones who have problems. At some point the sun will go nova and all human kind still left here will die. Or the earth;s axis will tilt and people will die. Fact of life. Get over it, Move on, Live now and let those who come after that we won't even know worry about their own survival.

 

[scubafanatic]

ALSO: Lionfish on Punta Tunich twilight dive. I asked divemaster what he is going to do. He says, "I think they are a beautiful fish, I don't want to kill them. There are too many now to do anything about it."

Of course I tried to tell him what they are doing to the Bahamas etc. He just shrugged. I asked him if he was going to report it. He said "I actually was the one who found the first Lion fish here in Cozumel. It was a big deal then. Now it is too late. Octupus eat everything else here too"

This is the third Cozumel DM (two SCC, one BA) who shrug shoulders at sighting of LIONFISH.

What can I say!

....having seen what I saw (or better yet, didn't see) on my last trip 02/06 (after the 2 Hurricanes hit in 2005) there's not a whole heck of a lot left to do 'damage-wise' to Coz anyway......so little left to look at there anymore, even the DM is probably bored out of his mind and, in a twisted sort of way, is thankful to have at least SOMETHING colorful to point out to divers.

 

[dtcmarical]

Just returned from Coz and this is what I encountered. First thing, I did 5 dives at Coz and lionfish were spotted on three of these. Second, two different DMs captured lionfish, including one on a night dive. Third, it does concern me that in short amount of time these are being seen on more than 50 percent of dives.

Btw, one sighting the DM was to far past to return and capture it, on one dive two lionfish were captured. But I did hear that the one missed was possibly captured later or one in the same general location.

Just a different perspective, but the dive shop I was with did seem concerned.

Thanks dtcmarical

 

[psychocabbage]

Many times it seem like what we call invasive species are not. I'm coming round to believing that when man introduces changes that it really is natural. Darwin and evolution are using us to modify nature. Stupidity is bringing about change but it is still change. And doesn;t everybody want that. (They sure did here in the last election).

Just as I feel that climate change, regardless of cause, is a natural phenomena. Dinosaurs farted us into an ice age or so it seems. Then Ogg and his buddies fired up their flintstone mobiles and got us out of it. So what. It is happening again. We are changing things by just being on this planet until she decides to throw us off. Maybe the spread of lionfish is part of a bigger plan by nature? Leave em alone. With any luck they'll keep divers who are too stupid to leave em alone and get stung out of the water. Very pretty fish IMO as well. Just like the zebra mussels in Lake Erie. We can see the wrecks now!

Nature has ways of adjusting to changes. We are the ones who have problems. At some point the sun will go nova and all human kind still left here will die. Or the earth;s axis will tilt and people will die. Fact of life. Get over it, Move on, Live now and let those who come after that we won't even know worry about their own survival.

I concur.. People need to get it through their thick skulls that you cannot police the ocean and you cant take out a whole fish population. Its just too big an area to cover.

I too like the lionfish and had forewarned our DMs that if we found any, that they were not to report them as I didnt want that. They all agreed. The power of green. Gotta love it.

 

[Doubler]

The Genie is already out of the bottle and there is no putting it back. Jimlap is correct, nature will adjust. Maybe a viral infection that only affects Lionfish or all we will see is Lionfish. Either way man has very little say.

 

[dtcmarical]

I usually dont respond to these things but here goes. PsychoCabbage and JimLap what you are saying is anything that happens is really a natural phenomena. We put mercury, battery acid, etc. into our enviroment, then who cares. It will not effect us so we wont worry about it. Let the next generations handle the problem. That is the typical mind set that has this world in the shape it is in. See Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid.

The lionfish may not be able to be removed from the waters of the national park but I would rather see someone doing something to control a species that is not found NATURALLY in these waters. I do agree that sometimes things are done and the long term effects turn out drastically different.

Several decades ago red cedars were introduced in my area for erosion, wind breaks, etc. Now if they are not controlled they crowd out all other types of growth, not to mention the allergy problems that effect many now. But I am sure the ones who started the red cedars thought, what the heck let someone else deal with the potential problems!

I do respect the rights of others to their opinions and their right to free speech, but that is my humble opinion.

dtcmarical

 

[Scott L]

Many times it seem like what we call invasive species are not. I'm coming round to believing that when man introduces changes that it really is natural. Darwin and evolution are using us to modify nature. Stupidity is bringing about change but it is still change. And doesn;t everybody want that. (They sure did here in the last election).

Just as I feel that climate change, regardless of cause, is a natural phenomena. Dinosaurs farted us into an ice age or so it seems. Then Ogg and his buddies fired up their flintstone mobiles and got us out of it. So what. It is happening again. We are changing things by just being on this planet until she decides to throw us off. Maybe the spread of lionfish is part of a bigger plan by nature? Leave em alone. With any luck they'll keep divers who are too stupid to leave em alone and get stung out of the water. Very pretty fish IMO as well. Just like the zebra mussels in Lake Erie. We can see the wrecks now!

Nature has ways of adjusting to changes. We are the ones who have problems. At some point the sun will go nova and all human kind still left here will die. Or the earth;s axis will tilt and people will die. Fact of life. Get over it, Move on, Live now and let those who come after that we won't even know worry about their own survival.

I generally always agree with your insightful posts but not this one. Please do not let our current political direction drain your love of diving and sea life although I admit it's quite difficult. Non-native Lionfish are currently devastating the native juvenile fish populations of grouper, snapper, etc. on reefs all around New Providence Island and surrounding areas in the Bahamas. Personally, I would much rather dive on reefs that have an abundance and variety of sea life as has been the case for the past thousands if not millions of years. You may wish to wait thousands of years for nature to run it's course but I can assure you that the divers in SE Florida will not stand by and see our reefs ruined without putting up a gallant fight. Our forebears did a pretty good job of devasting the grouper populations, especially the goliaths, so I have no doubt that we can have a similar or greater impact in slowing the Lionfish's growth in these waters. Too stupid to leave them alone? Perhaps for quarry divers. We will be just fine...