I’m never using a BC again!

[tarponchik]

I'm not arguing just giving information and the clips you quoted are from the FAQ's that came from this and other articles. What you don't seem to understand even though Eric said it, I now have said it and even the FAQ's you quoted states it is illegal in this state to cull other than the two areas mentioned. These are test sites along with testing being done at the Bodega Marine Lab. The coastal waters are regulated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife if you don't understand our laws maybe you should ask them. Eric is working within the laws and actually doing something about it.

What are you talking about? You did not give me any new information. The Alastair Bland's article you referred to confirms that chances of urchins spawning accidently during culling are considered negligible. As for why culling is not allowed in some places, the article avoids this subject.

 

[Sure Squintsalot]

I fixed it.

You shouldn't have. "Snotty" is used routinely in the Northeast by fishermen and lobstermen to describe an unruly chop that no boat alignment can fix. A full day in a snotty chop will send any adult into the pub for a few hours of recovery.

 

[Celt]

….for urchin removal dives anyway off the beach.

Yesterday (Sunday 10/15/2023) we did another purple urchin removal dive at Stillwater Cove in Sonoma County. Forget about the location though, it’s not about the location but more about large seas, breaking waves, shore surge and my gear choices to be able to best handle that.
Yesterday the cove did not live up to it’s name “Stillwater” It was anything but… it was sporty. There was a long interval south swell coming in plus a west swell forecasted at 4’-6’.
Combine that with an incoming tide and it was pretty healthy.
I looked at it for a while to see a pattern and finally decided to give it shot.
I didn’t bring my wing because I get sick if cleaning something that I don’t use anyway for these shallow dives. It’s just more wear and tear, possible urchin spine holes to fix, and I have to clean it.
I had to gear up fully on the beach with fins on and then side step into the water. As the sets came in I’d get low and brace myself, then as the water rushed out to sea again I’d walk more. As soon as I was about waist high I flopped in and went straight down to the bottom so the waves would go over me. I used my compass to make sure I was headed in the right direction. The surge pulled me out and I would haul ass like a drift dive, then when the surge would reverse direction I would grab a boulder and hang on so I wouldn’t lose ground. So basically I left all the drama on the surface and just went out underneath it all.
I went out, filled up my urchin bags, took a compass reading for shore and did the same thing back in. I went all the way in on the bottom and crawled out on hands and knees with reg in mouth Monastery style. I did raise the bags with a lift bag and float them in and was able to hang onto the bottom corner of one bag by a stainless carabeaner I had on it so I could stay under. As I approached the beach the surge and beach break took the bags away from me and shore support got them out.
I came to realize that a wing would have been counter productive for such a dive. Air in BC’s are a major factor in divers getting slammed on beaches. Now I know some if you lake and quarry divers are reading this and your eyes are glazing over, and some if you are shaking your heads thinking this guy is nuts! But it’s true.
So no more wings or bc for me on these dives. Don’t need it.
View attachment 806176View attachment 806177

Nice clean setup, I use a very similar setup for difficult shore entries. No point carrying gear you don’t need.

 

[The Chairman]

Whatever, but I am curious, where did you get this idea about sea urchins accidental spawning during culling? Was this your own suggestion or someone told you that?

I learned about it when I visited Mote marine labs in Florida. Is there a study? I don't know, but they were dealing with an aquarium where they were trying to get rid of them, and found they started a spawn when they crushed them.

 

[The Chairman]

You shouldn't have. "Snotty" is used routinely in the Northeast by fishermen and lobstermen to describe an unruly chop that no boat alignment can fix. A full day in a snotty chop will send any adult into the pub for a few hours of recovery.

I was being silly when I suggested it. I believe he was just playing along.

 

[tarponchik]

I learned about it when I visited Mote marine labs in Florida. Is there a study? I don't know, but they were dealing with an aquarium where they were trying to get rid of them, and found they started a spawn when they crushed them.

I searched PubMed for urchin culling and got 2 hits, both unrelated to the topic. So no, there was no such study (unless they've used some term other than "culling"). Thus we can quote only expert opinions here. I had found such opinion printed in black and white, while my opponents (including you) rely on hearsay.

I can add another argument, purely practical. In shallow waters, a diver can cull way more urchins per dive than collect. Also, the number of urchins collected per diver is limited while the number of urchins culled is not. So, even if 1 in 100 culled urchins spawns, the urchins left unculled and uncollected will spawn way more eggs.

 

[The Chairman]

I can add another argument, purely practical.

It appears that the problem isn't as practical in nature as it is legal. Laws don't have to be practical to be enforceable. In Florida, we can't de-tail or eat a spiney lobster at sea. It's a law that's often broken, but it's still the law.

 

[tarponchik]

Bureaucracies can be slow, selfish, or just plain dumb. I wouldn't mind at all if Eric simply said that he had to follow the law. Ordnung muss sein, dura lex sed lex, and so on. However, he used much stronger words, " it’s disrespectful, selfish, and ignorant". I did not ask Eric to lecture me on morality and such blind faith in authority, even worshiping it, is against common sense. Disrespectful? Sure, but maybe they need to earn your respect. Selfish? Hardly. You'll be trying to do a noble thing better on your time and money. Ignorant? Maybe they are ignorant, not you?

 

[The Chairman]

What? A personality clash on the interwebs? Meh. Lot's people hate my ass for all sorts of wild reasons for me to get all worried about it. I do find that most people don't like advice if they don't specifically ask for it. Sometimes, they don't like it even when they do. Go figure!

 

[Boarderguy]

Meh. Lot's people hate my ass for all sorts of wild reasons for me to get all worried about it.

We don't hate your asṣ