- Messages
- 94,535
- Reaction score
- 93,730
- Location
- On the Fun Side of Trump's Wall
- # of dives
- 2500 - 4999
Interacting with sea life look but don't touch!
- Thread starter Z Gear
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Allison Finch
Contributor
It's true and it is a horrific trade.
Areas all over Indonesia where seahorses used to be plentiful have been stripped. All for something a western blue pill can take care of.....
Candid pic of Unnamed Pub celebrity.
---------- Post added February 27th, 2015 at 04:31 PM ----------
They are dried and ground into a powder, often sold as capsules here in the west where seahorse powder would otherwise be illegal to import. In years past I've seen them dried and stored by the hundreds in a barrel at a NYC Traditional Chinese Medicine shop on Mott street.
Seahorses are only one species being depleted by the wealth and size of the Chinese market. Tigers, bears, Rhinos, sharks, snakes, turtles, and entire rainforests in SE Asia are being consumed. I find it fascinating to read diver's accounts of the scarcity of seahorses. Here in NJ I can easily find a dozen or more in an hour or two snorkeling. They prefer shallow weedy water which limits the number scuba divers see, and which also makes them easy prey for commercial net collectors.
- Messages
- 94,535
- Reaction score
- 93,730
- Location
- On the Fun Side of Trump's Wall
- # of dives
- 2500 - 4999
I swear if we could somehow convince the Chinese that the Caribbean lionfish were an aphrodesiac, they'd be an endangered species within 5 years ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
- Messages
- 16,438
- Reaction score
- 5,241
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
Aren't they also big on shark fin soup? Seems the Chinese (in China anyway) do a lot of bad things. Not trying to stereotype, just what I seem to hear.
- Messages
- 94,535
- Reaction score
- 93,730
- Location
- On the Fun Side of Trump's Wall
- # of dives
- 2500 - 4999
AfterDark
Contributor
I read somewhere that the young people of China have been waking up to the harm this practice does. Now that doesn't mean the Chinese fishing industry will stop the shark fishing, there are other markets where the fins can be sold. The younger Chinese are hip and are refusing to buy shark fin soup. They probably learned about it on the internet.
Remember this isn't the Pub but Basic with different rules. How about we get back to the OP's topic please?
I had an interesting exchange with a Marine Biology I was doing some work with.
I mentioned that I was told that touching a fish with gloves on was bad because it removes the layer of mucus that give the fish some protection from parasites etc. She said that current research indicates that gloves aren't as bad as bare hands. She said the bacteria that is natural to human skin causes more problems. Anyone else head something along these lines or know were the research can be found?
I had an interesting exchange with a Marine Biology I was doing some work with.
I mentioned that I was told that touching a fish with gloves on was bad because it removes the layer of mucus that give the fish some protection from parasites etc. She said that current research indicates that gloves aren't as bad as bare hands. She said the bacteria that is natural to human skin causes more problems. Anyone else head something along these lines or know were the research can be found?
I remember that about 20+ years ago the NJ Charles O. Hayford trout hatchery did a semi-controlled study regarding the survival rates of trout that had been handled after being caught on barbless hooks. The survival rate was frighteningly low due to bacterial infections, but there were many factors that could not be controlled for. I do remember that handling fish gently with moistened hands was much better than using dry hands because of the body slime issue.
Fish can be very tough if not too stressed. I had a full grown Spotted Drum, about a pound of fish, jump out of an aquarium and hit a carpeted floor after a 6 foot drop. I heard the thud from another room and the fish was flapping for about a minute before it was put back in its home. It retreated to its familiar hiding place for days, and looked like hell, all scratched up and grey, for a couple of weeks, but recovered fully without any treatment. In my experience reef fishes need the security of familiar safe surroundings, and schooling fish need their companions in order to recover from trauma.
Over the years I've caught and donated fish to AZA facilities. A few times I've donated fish, like Lookdowns and Catalufas, that I had for many years and which had grown too large. A lot of them die very quickly after being moved. Sometimes professional ichthyologists kill fish because they don't have the wet thumb that some of us who have been keeping fish for half a century and more develop. They often have acclimatization 'protocols' that can kill certain fish, damage their gills or eyes. Telling them anything is often a waste of time.
I have a foot long Spotted Drum and an 8 inch Short Bigeye that will have to stay with me permanently. I've seen professionals kill too many fish.
Aquabot
Contributor
I haven't ever done intentionally since my first OW dive on my own where I managed to have a sea urchin find its way into my knee cap. I even have video of me yelling at a friend of mine trying to grab a pufferfish to get him to blow up.
Similar threads
Trip Report
Yucatan (Cozumel, Mahahual, Tulum)
