DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #864: WRECKFISH SPEARED
Finally I have been allowed to practice one of the most effective approaches to "social distancing..." SCUBA diving! Ever since the SARS-CoV-2 virus entered our lives I have asserted that submerging to 60 fsw is one of the premiere ways to prevent its spread. Not that I wanted everyone on the planet to do it of course, but for those of us who are already certified it should be one of the safest things we do... at least relative to the virus.
So it was with great joy I re-entered King Neptune's realm last week and did my first dives since late March. Some of that joy quickly disappeared while I was cavorting with several of our wreckfish, also known as the gentle giants... and erroneously called black sea bass, giant sea bass and giant black sea bass. I say this because they are not in the sea bass family (Serranidae) but in the wreckfish family (Polyprionidae). I'm not saying it is more politically correct to call them by their rightful name, but it certainly is more biologically correct!
I looked off to the side and in the distance noticed another wreckfish. Visibility was a hazy 40 ft so I started swimming over to it. Unlike its friends I had been watching from a mere five feet, this one quickly bolted. As it did, I noticed a four foot silvery spear in the side of its head, embedded in its left operculum or gill cover. In addition to any pain it might be causing, it certainly posed a problem for the fish when swimming or trying to negotiate our thick giant kelp forests.
I occasionally see wreckfish with large lures and hooks dangling from their mouths. However, I understand that since an angler on board a boat rarely has any idea what fish is going to try to take their bait. Many good fishers try valiantly to remove the hooks and swim their catch down to an appropriate depth to give it a better chance of survival.
However, a diver with a spear gun gets no such amnesty from me. For someone to swim up to a giant wreckfish and pull the trigger on a protected species deserves none. They can see the object of their "affliction" and have no justifiable basis for shooting it other than total ignorance. Shooting one is about as sporting as walking up to a cow and shooting it.
I'm not talking about the many good spearos who know the species they are targeting and the rules of engagement (aka CDF&W catch regulations). They are not to blame. However if I came upon an idiot targeting a gentle giant, I think I'd take a lesson from Mike Nelson and "Sea Hunt." Of course unlike in the TV series, I wouldn't have to determine which was the exhaust hose on their double hose regulator. One cut of the single hose today would suffice.
I've seen the same fish on several dives now. However, it won't let me get very close to it so I can get some video and better assess what to do about the spear. Thanks to Harbor Patrolman William Flickinger, I am in touch with people at CDF&W and hopefully we will find a way to deal with this injury. I have seen wreckfish with substantial injuries that survive. I'm hopeful this one will too.
Last weekend I was able to get in a few more dives. The speared giant was quite skittish, understandably. However I did spend time with three others in the kelp. Two in the 200-250 pound range let me get up close and personal. One slightly larger one had the tail of a kelp bass sticking out of its mouth. No wonder they like to hang in the dive park. There is a great food chain there for them. Snorkelers and some divers feed the kelp bass peas (ugh) causing large aggregations of these tasty fish. Then the gentle giant gets to pick one off whenever it gets the urge!
© 2020 Dr. Bill Bushing. For the entire archived set of over 850 "Dive Dry" columns, visit my website Star Thrower Educational Multimedia (S.T.E.M.) Home Page
Image caption: Wreckfish with small kelp bass and simulation of the one with a spear in it;
gentle giants hooked by unknowing anglers.
Finally I have been allowed to practice one of the most effective approaches to "social distancing..." SCUBA diving! Ever since the SARS-CoV-2 virus entered our lives I have asserted that submerging to 60 fsw is one of the premiere ways to prevent its spread. Not that I wanted everyone on the planet to do it of course, but for those of us who are already certified it should be one of the safest things we do... at least relative to the virus.
So it was with great joy I re-entered King Neptune's realm last week and did my first dives since late March. Some of that joy quickly disappeared while I was cavorting with several of our wreckfish, also known as the gentle giants... and erroneously called black sea bass, giant sea bass and giant black sea bass. I say this because they are not in the sea bass family (Serranidae) but in the wreckfish family (Polyprionidae). I'm not saying it is more politically correct to call them by their rightful name, but it certainly is more biologically correct!
I looked off to the side and in the distance noticed another wreckfish. Visibility was a hazy 40 ft so I started swimming over to it. Unlike its friends I had been watching from a mere five feet, this one quickly bolted. As it did, I noticed a four foot silvery spear in the side of its head, embedded in its left operculum or gill cover. In addition to any pain it might be causing, it certainly posed a problem for the fish when swimming or trying to negotiate our thick giant kelp forests.
I occasionally see wreckfish with large lures and hooks dangling from their mouths. However, I understand that since an angler on board a boat rarely has any idea what fish is going to try to take their bait. Many good fishers try valiantly to remove the hooks and swim their catch down to an appropriate depth to give it a better chance of survival.
However, a diver with a spear gun gets no such amnesty from me. For someone to swim up to a giant wreckfish and pull the trigger on a protected species deserves none. They can see the object of their "affliction" and have no justifiable basis for shooting it other than total ignorance. Shooting one is about as sporting as walking up to a cow and shooting it.
I'm not talking about the many good spearos who know the species they are targeting and the rules of engagement (aka CDF&W catch regulations). They are not to blame. However if I came upon an idiot targeting a gentle giant, I think I'd take a lesson from Mike Nelson and "Sea Hunt." Of course unlike in the TV series, I wouldn't have to determine which was the exhaust hose on their double hose regulator. One cut of the single hose today would suffice.
I've seen the same fish on several dives now. However, it won't let me get very close to it so I can get some video and better assess what to do about the spear. Thanks to Harbor Patrolman William Flickinger, I am in touch with people at CDF&W and hopefully we will find a way to deal with this injury. I have seen wreckfish with substantial injuries that survive. I'm hopeful this one will too.
Last weekend I was able to get in a few more dives. The speared giant was quite skittish, understandably. However I did spend time with three others in the kelp. Two in the 200-250 pound range let me get up close and personal. One slightly larger one had the tail of a kelp bass sticking out of its mouth. No wonder they like to hang in the dive park. There is a great food chain there for them. Snorkelers and some divers feed the kelp bass peas (ugh) causing large aggregations of these tasty fish. Then the gentle giant gets to pick one off whenever it gets the urge!
© 2020 Dr. Bill Bushing. For the entire archived set of over 850 "Dive Dry" columns, visit my website Star Thrower Educational Multimedia (S.T.E.M.) Home Page
Image caption: Wreckfish with small kelp bass and simulation of the one with a spear in it;
gentle giants hooked by unknowing anglers.
