Article: Kudos to Bob Bailey - NWGratefulDiver

[calidiverdan]

I don't think any "protester" is arguing that hunting octopus should be banned, merely that there is a time and place for it.

Here is a quote from the article:

Officials are considering banning octopus hunting throughout the state​

 

[pensacolaracer]

AFAIK, no one has even once suggested that the octopus species is endangered and should be protected. The protection sought is for the site.

I will respectfully suggest that you might not be quite as informed as you think you are. As one who lived up there and is still a somewhat regular member of the Northwestdiveclub, I can say there are some who are actively throwing it on the table to protect the GPO (not just at Cove 2, but everywhere in Washington).

 

[nimoh]

Here is a quote from the article:

Officials are considering banning octopus hunting throughout the state​

I wasn't including officials when I said "protesters"

---------- Post added December 10th, 2012 at 04:14 PM ----------

I will respectfully suggest that you might not be quite as informed as you think you are. As one who lived up there and is still a somewhat regular member of the Northwestdiveclub, I can say there are some who are actively throwing it on the table to protect the GPO (not just at Cove 2, but everywhere in Washington).

I am probably not all that well-informed either, I dove out at Cove 2 this past summer and had a great time, but I am far removed from the local politics regarding this issue.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Take of 1 octopus per diver per day is LEGAL where it was taken.

So what? It was, as you so conclusively say, flat out wrong.

If Bob and the "entire PNW diving community" has his favorite spots for diving and doesn't want to see people taking octopi, he has every right to do something about it.

They did, and it was legal. You just didn't like it.

But to make an innocent, law abiding diver the poster boy of an anti-octopus hunting campaign is flat out wrong.

It's nice that you feel that way, and it's healthy you like to share your feelings about what's flat out wrong with others on the internet. But I don't see why anyone should care. Maybe you could lobby to get the Washington hunter harrassment law extended to include saying anything bad about a hunter?

 

[calidiverdan]

Yep, here we go.

I would respectfully suggest that if you are going to go to the trouble of starting an account just to chime in on this, you might also go through the trouble of reading through the thread and getting it right.

AFAIK, no one has even once suggested that the octopus species is endangered and should be protected. The protection sought is for the site. You may think you have the right to impose your own ideas on what the community there should be able to decide, but my own feeling is that if the locals there decide that the site's value is increased by offering it the protection of park status, then I think that's their decision to make. Not mine, not yours. Theirs.

There are a number of other places in the world that are protected from hunting so divers can go look at wildlife and not worry about whether it gets killed in front of them. I'm not above hunting myself, and am not very squeamish about much, but it shouldn't be too much of a stretch for a reasonably working brain to make that even the most avid hunter probably doesn't want to take his kids to a petting zoo when there's a chance that someone's going to come along and cap Bambi in front of them.

This "poor kid" didn't get drug through any mud. He was living in mud: he acted like a creep someplace, and brought attention to himself, and once people started looking at what he advertised about himself on his Facebook page, they found racism, animal cruelty, and confirmation beyond measure that he was exactly the kind of punk you'd rather not have spoil a nice place. But by all means, bring all this crap back up, it will be really great for him for you to re-open these wounds.


:shocked2ude, take your meds.

FYI, I joined Scubaboard over a year or 2 ago. I just don't check it often, and I have never posted until scubaboard sent me an email about this story. I have no problem if people want to ban octopus harvesting in ANY area based on reasonable cause. But to do it in reaction to some kid/"punk" doing something legal, tho maybe from a sick mind is ridiculous. If you have a problem with someone's behavior, address his behavior, don't legislate using sensationalism

 

[NAM001]

David
I think you miss the whole point of what has happened. No one is challenging the legality of the action. As the story has been told, what he did was legal. There is more than just legalities involved. What he did was not only an ethical and moral issue It became a personal issue as the diver involved was arrogant, with out any degree of remorse once confromted by BOB and held to the position " I can do what i want and you cant stop me." If all divers shared that attitude there would be nothing worth diving for. I am not trying to put the GPO on a higher level than humans. I am saying theat we are to a degree the custodians of the enviromment we occupy. I agree that many times that is carried to extreems is some's view. If you want to hunt then hunt but you never, never interfere with any creature that is nesting or with young. It is just an unwritten rule that most accept instinctivily. Legality has nothing to do with common sence. This is not harrassent , this is peer presure to the max. If not stopped there would shortly be none left to be enjoyed. If it were deer season and it was legal to drop a doe ,I would not do so if the doe was with young. The person involved seems to lack comomn sence and and the community ( i will not use the word peers) have voiced thier opinion to him to let him know that such behavior though legal is unacceptable to general principal and common sence. I will not dispute that some have probably stepped over the line in the voicing of thier opinions, however those actions are seperate issues. Once again i say YIPEE because of the movement to officially protect this area from those that just cant act responsibly.

So where do i sign up for the petition to stop the harassing and threatening of this
diver who never broke the law but is being unlawfully persecuted?
I'm all for preserving the environment, making protected areas etc, but they can't be put ahead of human life, and if the users here are so fanatical they'll threaten human life for political gain, what kind of world are they trying to preserve?
You know,i think the speed limit in your neighborhood should be lower, so I'm going to phone and harass and threaten you, even though you obey the present speed limit! bunch of idiots.

 

[kotik]

FYI, I joined Scubaboard over a year or 2 ago. I just don't check it often, and I have never posted until scubaboard sent me an email about this story. I have no problem if people want to ban octopus harvesting in ANY area based on reasonable cause. But to do it in reaction to some kid/"punk" doing something legal, tho maybe from a sick mind is ridiculous. If you have a problem with someone's behavior, address his behavior, don't legislate using sensationalism

My apologies if I lumped you in unfairly, but the fact is that you are among a number of users making their second or so post on the board, all saying variations of the same thing (with varying degrees of coherence/sanity), all within a one day period when things had quieted down. I really doubt this is a complete coincidence, maybe the email update's what stirred it up again though.
Regardless of whether you insist that someone must not legislate, there seems to be quite a few people living there that disagree with you. It's very much part of the American way, you know.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

I have no problem if people want to ban octopus harvesting in ANY area based on reasonable cause. But to do it in reaction to some kid/"punk" doing something legal, tho maybe from a sick mind is ridiculous.

You keep right on thinking you get to define what is/is not a "reasonable cause." Everyone else will keep doing whatever they think best. Everyone wins!

 

[TSandM]

Everybody really ought to chill about this . . . it's actually quite an old story now.

The good news is that the young man in question has been adopted by an active diving group in Seattle, and is now putting his energy to use in trash cleanup dives and a project to document storm drains.

The good news is that proper due process has been followed, and the regulatory system here is considering limiting octopus hunting in popular dive sites. (Leaving, BTW, a tremendous amount of Puget Sound available to anyone who actually wants to try to eat the big, tough things . . . )

The moral of the story to the average recreational diver is that due process works.

The moral of the story to hunters is that it's not a good idea to do something unpopular in a very public place.

 

[Allison Finch]

Folks, THIS thread is to appreciate the fact that the coves are being considered for protection. This is a GOOD thing, IMO.

If you want to go and bash each other's opinions on this kid and his rights....or throwing around how evil Bob was .....or how spearing/grabbing in a place like the coves is just hunky dory, go back to the original thread and bash away. This thread is a positive one and doesn't need to become bashfest #2.