Solo cave dive and octopus/ Sea tiger night dive

[Wilderness Medic]

Lol.

Lifespan of 3-5 years, often only one year, extremely profiling laying hundreds of thousands of eggs, species far from threatened and they really went through all that over a legal take of a GPO. Just more people taking away more freedoms because it offends them. Don't like hunting them. Don't do it. Blame nature for making them so tasty.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I sometimes see beautiful parrotfish sitting on ice in the ethnic supermarket. I think the vast majority of us divers would cringe.

There are lots of species that were once considered prolific, and then people start taking them in unregulated numbers until they became rare or extinct. How many species have succumbed to this already on the California coast?

Enough well-intentioned divers taking any species will push it toward endangered. Please don't contribute to this before I have a chance to see a GPO.

p.s. I see you still have "50-99 dives"

 

[Wilderness Medic]

Cringe? Parrotfish it literally my favorite fish to shoot and eat. Best tasting fish ever.

They are regulated. And populations kept on check. This is the equivalent of someone saying "deer are cute and seeing them killed make me cringe. Unregulated taking of them will cause them to decline, please don't shoot one before I get to see one in the wild."

Idk why my signature or info isn't popping up, I went and added a bunch

 

[Lorenzoid]

Deer are over-populated due to shrinking habitat and a decrease in natural predators, all due to man's impact. We started that mess, and now we have to try to keep all these species in balance artificially. What reef fish are over-populated? I don't see more parrotfish every year. I don't see MORE of any fish every year.

I am admittedly uneducated about the GPO, except for what I have read on Scubaboard over the last few years and the links provided in those discussions. If the GPO is over-populating because humans have decimated their natural predators, then managing their numbers through licenses and catch limits would be reasonable. My impression is that although the GPO may not be endangered, seeing one on a dive is still uncommon and a highlight of the dive. My wife and I have taken up drysuit diving, and we talk all the time about visiting the west coast someday and seeing a GPO.

I remember when I lived in California hearing the old timers talk about the giant seabass, the abalone, clams, etc. It's all been decimated.

 

[Wilderness Medic]

"Decimated" can mean different things to different people.

I'm reminded of how many people have absolutely tore me apart for killing and eatin their beautiful sea urchin. Well guess what, now they are absolutely out of control killing off all the kelp which is in turn harming the abalone and other marine life.

I didn't say GPO were overpopulated.They are however regulated. Yes, they aren't taken too often. You may not use scuba tanks to take them, the usually are a bit deeper, and hand taking a GPO on a breathe hold is extremely challenging. In fact I would say the most challenging take there is here. I will continue to try and take a GPO any chance I get, as I love eating them, they aren't endangered, are prolific breeders, only live 3-5 years, and you work for every bit of it. Not to mention almost every lingcod belly contains at least one or two at any given time. I'd say they're doing just fine.

Just because people don't see them often doesn't mean they aren't there. I don't think I need to explain how well they are at keeping hidden.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Sea urchin is insanely expensive these days. I guess most of what is commercially harvested goes to Asia. If I still lived in CA, I'd be diving for it.

 

[Wilderness Medic]

Sea urchin is insanely expensive these days. I guess most of what is commercially harvested goes to Asia. If I still lived in CA, I'd be diving for it.

There are more here than you'd know what to do with. The problem is now they are so overpopulated they are starving too (no gonads or little ones to eat). Hopefully they have a die off. I have pictures a of urchin barrens. It's pretty sad.

 

[boulderjohn]

Sea urchins are overpopulated because we pretty much eliminated their primary predator--sea otters--to make fur coats. The urchins are wiping out the kelp in some areas. Kelp is the main primary producer (takes CO2 etc. to create energy and become the base of the food web) in the area, so losing it will be devastating.

 

[Wilderness Medic]

Sea urchins are overpopulated because we pretty much eliminated their primary predator--sea otters--to make fur coats. The urchins are wiping out the kelp in some areas. Kelp is the main primary producer (takes CO2 etc. to create energy and become the base of the food web) in the area, so losing it will be devastating.

That was a long time ago and kelp was still around after. Things didn't seem to get really bad until the sea star die off in the last 1-3 years. The good news is they seem to be coming back pretty strong. Hopefully they will start cleaning them up.