Blue Heron Bridge Trolls

[adurso]

Even with prescription lenses in my mask the little things elude me; I used my children to scout, then would shoot where they pointed, changing setting and bracketing the subject I could not see.

Some turned out OK...

 

[mscott556]

Just a few pics from my dives over the last couple of weeks (photos taken between 1/1 and 1/12/15). It's been beautiful lately!

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Awesome! I haven't found any sea horses lately and the only dwarf FF I've seen was with you! Actually, haven't seen any nudis or the pipehorse either...maybe I should hire you as a guide

 

[danvolker]

this is so common of some photogs at the BHB, that unless I ignore it I do not get to enjoy my dive.

Which gets to the issue of all the "user groups" competing for the use of the BHB Marine park....the fisherman, the sightseer divers, the student divers and instructors, the photographers that do wide angle, the point and shoot photogs, the macro photogs, and the super macro photographers..and, the collectors, the snorkelers, and the waders and swimmers in the local beach going population.

So each group has an IMPACT on the health of the marine life it comes in contact with. Some user groups have much lower impact than others, obviously.

A class of 20 students doing their first roto-tilling tour of the BHB, with no skills taught to them yet, kicking the bottom and dragging guages the whole way as they go.... is likely to be among the highest impact, most damaging group.

In the scheme of things, just walking and standing in the waiste deep water off the beach, with fins on, is going to spread huge amounts of silt, and this is a zone that actually has many of the rare life forms living on the bottom--right where divers and dive classes congregate, and stomp all over the bottom, as if it was the floor of someone's living room.

The macro photographers, and super macro crowd, are very plugged in to what lives in this zone, and from what I have seen, most try hard to have minimal contact with the bottom where the hordes are standing and congregating. When they lie down, they do so with very low pounds per square inch weight on the bottom life--they spread their weight out carefully and gently, and they try to avoid kicking anything...some are much better at this than others, obviously--but most try hard at this idea of gentle contact.


I do not believe that pushing a black slate under a 2mm long nudibranch, is anywhere near as DAMAGING to this marine life, as is the walking around on top of hydroids and sea grass and on top of nudibranchs, that will take place by the hordes of unknowing divers.

This is one of the reasons I wanted to stick up for DD, as the impact I see him having on the health of marine life, appears to me to be far below the impact of most of the divers walking all over the bottom, for long periods of time.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

So it begs the question - doesn't everyone have the right to enjoy the BHB? Which may be where you were headed...

Some to your point some folks are ignorant to the damage they may be doing - some may not care - others have a right to collect specimens from what I understand. So when a kid has fun in the water I think a think leeway is in order - since I will guarantee you not one of us on the board has not done something so completely out of character or boneheaded as a kid and some of us still as adults.

The PC crowd has a point - but that point only goes so far and if folks don't agree with the point they are free to dismiss it - and threatening a kid as been stated above has no place in diving - IMO.

 

[djtimmy77]

That was essentially my point. As long as people are acting in a legal manner, we all really should play nice and share.

 

[tekkydiver]

I threatened to poke him in the leg with my pointer. The fact that the mods removed that comment but saw fit to leave all the replies to it negated the removal altogether.

Bottom line is that you have been posting questionable videos for a long time. Now you are posting videos of a kid who dives quite well, but ruins his skills video by openly being rude to other divers. My post about the pointer was more in jest than in any way serious, but how about teaching your kid some manners

Officer Finch, your 1st post indicated you could possibly assault a child. Your latest post proves you are a liar. You did not threaten to poke, you threatened to impale. I believe your statement was:

"Maybe he has to be referring to your son's EXTREMELY rude buzzing of that photographer trying to take a shot. I would have left my pointer impaled in your kid's thigh if he did that to me. So, you not only harass wildlife, you harass photogs. THAT is the family tradition he may be referring to."

You might think stabbing one's thigh is quite harmless, but should you compromise the femoral artery, you might quickly move up to criminal offenses you might not want to consider.

Shame on you. You owe an apology to DD, his son, your fellow LEO's and those who enjoy SB.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I threatened to poke him in the leg with my pointer. The fact that the mods removed that comment but saw fit to leave all the replies to it negated the removal altogether.

Bottom line is that you have been posting questionable videos for a long time. Now you are posting videos of a kid who dives quite well, but ruins his skills video by openly being rude to other divers. My post about the pointer was more in jest than in any way serious, but how about teaching your kid some manners

I sure as heck remember the little frogfish picture you posted but I won't mention it because since I can't ever seem to find them and all of my friends can I don't want people out there to know they exist because then they'll wonder why I don't have any pictures of them.

Maybe I should hire dumpsters kid to go scouting for me, or do you think I can interrogate the eels into giving up the info on frogfish hiding spots?!!

This place is awesome.

 

[blauvelt]

So ... did anyone happen to notice the pretty seahorse photos I posted the other day?

Those of us who live here are so fortunate to enjoy this place on a regular basis. I have trouble finding seahorses unless they're orange.

 

[D2Diver]

I need to point out something that seems to be missed esp from the person who said this:
""Maybe he has to be referring to your son's EXTREMELY rude buzzing of that photographer trying to take a shot."
How often do you dive BHB? If you knew it like I do the passage where he swam over the photographer is narrow.
The only way to go south to north is going over that photag or swimming towards the channel between narrow sets of pilings.
I take photos there too & I am only annoyed if people don't try to avoid me & kick me. I didn't notice that in the video. He did a great job of avoiding & not kicking. Every single time I try to go between those pilings no matter how careful I am I kick them & therefore send debris that probably floats into view of a camera lens. I do not like people swimming up to me when I am out in the open trying to take a shot. I feel that is rude as they can swim wider to avoid me but at that back wall I expect it as we have to share a narrow space. It doesn't annoy me as I just wait until water is clear again & if my subject moved that is a loss but not enough to threaten someone although I have pushed on fins that aim towards my head - more than once.
This is not about the father this is about a kid who did nothing wrong but have a video posted.
PS If this was 2 wks ago it might have been me back there but I never take my flag back there as like my fins it always get caught in something

 

[blauvelt]

I was there and I said it before. The kid did nothing wrong. Photographer was there for more than a little while. The alley is a hot spot on the westside and if you're going to park there for a while you have to expect other divers coming through. It's not the photog harping it's others.