Don't "Harass" the Sea Bass

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drbill

The Lorax for the Kelp Forest
Scuba Legend
Rest in Peace
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Location
Santa Catalina Island, CA
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With my Cephalopods of SoCal "in the can" it was time to return to diving on the King Neptune. And a great weekend of diving it was. In fact, I did 10 dives over the three days... more than I did all last month!

Best dives were with the giant sea bass (four dives in all this weekend). I saw at least 12 on one dive and possibly 13 on another. Initially they seemed a bit skittish on the first day, but once they realized Dr. Bill was only going to film them, not eat them, they started posing for me.

My impression of the bass this year is that initially they've been skittish, at least in the early season. The males did get into their usual chases, but didn't seem to be "herding" the females as much as in past seasons. It could be temperature related. Of course the ladies would pose for me, and I was happy to have a constant stream of males (and a few females) swimming in midwater to get good open water footage of.

Regarding the giant sea bass, I'd like to express a concern.

In the past we've seen mating aggregations, at what were probably historical sites, move after being "harassed" by divers. One such aggregation was at Lover's cove until about 5 years ago. That aggregation was affected mainly by snorkelers and possibly the tour boats since SCUBA is not allowed there, and moved further south.

Now it appears the group at Italian Gardens has finally moved on to a new site. Unfortunately a number of dive boats know about the new location and over the weekend I saw fairly constant diver presence there. Fishers have also been present there with greater frequency than I remember in the past, and I noted several sea bass with fish hooks in their mouths and leaders trailing, "ripped lips" due to fighting a hook, and damage to their operculums (gill covers) which may have been due to heavy monofilament... or a gill disease they get.

Obviously it would be inappropriate to ask dive boats not to go there. However, I think we all need to be aware that we may be impacting the bass at a critical point in their life... reproduction. If we continually disrupt them at their courting and mating sites, we may interfere with this process. It is believed that older fish teach the youngsters where these sites are. If the fish have to keep moving on, the newly matured youngsters may get confused about where they are supposed to mate!

Of course it could be that the bass naturally change courtship sites on a regular basis. We really don't know enough about the process. Of course I, too, am trying to learn from them!

So the advice I would give when divers encounter them at these sites, is that they exercise great control over their desire to get too close. The bass can be approached within feet if done in a slow, non-threatening way. However, you may also see the hovering individuals begin to get "nervous" (to be anthropomorphic) and start to move on. Rapid hand movements and even the light from a strobe can frighten them off. And please don't succumb to the desire to "pet" them.

I have dived Catalina waters since the 60's when the bass were largely gone (at least I didn't see them back then... and I had decent eyesight as a younger man). It is such a pleasure to be able to spend time with not just one or two, but an entire courting and mating group. I've had individual encounters with the sea bass last as long as 50+ minutes even while filming them most of that time.

Just my two cents worth... which of course isn't worth much given the value of the US dollar.

Dr. Bill

PS For those not familiar with these gentle giants, they are the Goliath grouper or Napoleon wrasse of our waters. Historically they have reached weights of up to 800 pounds (the largest ones we see today appear to be about 600 lbs) and lengths exceeding 7 1/2 feet.

You can find out more about them in my newspaper columns 004, 154 and 246.

If you are a real glutton for punishment, you can buy my Gentle Giants DVD about these magnificent fish! Lots of mating (well, at least courtship) and very little munching!
 
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Thanks for that Dr. Bill. I truly hope the Bass make a huge comeback, so much so that they are not frightened by even the most skitterish of new divers. Now all we need is a return of the blue sharks, bill fish and abalone.
 
Wouldn't it be great to take abalone again in our lifetime, Dave? Of course I;'d have to get my first fishing license in more than 30 years, but the thought of pounding abalone and then eating them would be too much to pass up. I've seen as many as 125 (I stopped counting at that point) abalone on a single dive here recently. Unfortunately at least one local poacher knows the location.

And we both remember the days when counting the number of blue shark fins (still attached to the fish, mind you) was a common game played on the way to the next dive site.

They are landing little baby marlin again this year... if you consider a 70 pounder to be a baby (which I do).
 
Wouldn't it be great to take abalone again in our lifetime, Dave? Of course I;'d have to get my first fishing license in more than 30 years, but the thought of pounding abalone and then eating them would be too much to pass up. I've seen as many as 125 (I stopped counting at that point) abalone on a single dive here recently. Unfortunately at least one local poacher knows the location.

And we both remember the days when counting the number of blue shark fins (still attached to the fish, mind you) was a common game played on the way to the next dive site.

They are landing little baby marlin again this year... if you consider a 70 pounder to be a baby (which I do).

Is it a problem to carry your speargun and hunt for poachers? You know, sometimes when aiming at kelp bass, those poachers can get in the way;)
 

Your right Bill, the abalone has made a little comeback but I’ve not seen the numbers like we had in the ‘70s.
Pound 'em? If they are the pink ones (scientific name unknown), properly cooked, pounding is unnecessary.
 
Some divers just don't have a clue.

My "instabuddy" on the King Neptune (matched by the DM, as Dr. Bill was filming solo- alas) chased off after any fish or crab that he saw, with his hands in constant motion, to boot. Didn't work too well for my hopes of getting any decent photos.


We all need to remember that we're just visitors in another environment.
 
Dr. Bill, about how often do they reproduce and what is their reproduction rate? I was with a group of people in Laguna Beach on Saturday morning and we witnessed a young Giant Sea Bass (about 3 ft.) but it was the only one we saw. I figured that might have been a rare sight indeed but then, maybe they are more abundant. My main concern is that it was in an area of heavy spearfishing. I only knew how to identify a Giant Sea Bass because I researched them a while back so I would know if I saw one, some people in the group knew what it was, but some had no clue. I doubt all spear fishers can identify a young Giant Sea Bass if they saw it. I've yet to see one in Italian Gardens and I've been there a few times.

Just cuious,
Shawn
 
Shawn,

We don't know very much about their reproductive rate. I assume that once they reach sexual maturity (at about 12 years and 50-60 pounds) that they "get it" as often as they can until they die (which may be in excess of 100 years) unless sexual senescence occurs earlier.

All spear fishers are responsible for knowing the identity of the fish they shoot at, as well as the legal limits and constraints. Fortunately, I haven't seen evidence of a speared fish in a few years now.

Dave... you are fortunate that you have never experienced my cooking. Even a pink ab (Haliotis corrugata) would require a lot of pounding to make it palatable! Heck, I even have to pound my hotdogs before cooking them.
 
A very wise captain once told me to "Go out to the kelp, and sit still. You won't have to chase a thing. If the currents up, stick your nose into in, grab a rock and hold on. They'll find you."

These are from an early July trip. I have very few wide angle shots because they kept coming in too close. They'd hang with me for a minute to 5 minutes, then mosey along. I had one literally settle in no more than 18" from me. Once they left, I'd move 15 - 20 ft, and either they'd be there or would show up very quickly. I was down over 50 minutes in this one spot and had bass there the whole time. They finally moved off when too many divers were in the same area (it's good to get in early!)

Sorry, no photoshop.......

GoatHarbor25.jpg


GoatHarbor21.jpg


GoatHarbor11.jpg


GSB.jpg
 

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