Posted by seahunt on November 02, 2002 at 19:28:02:
In Reply to: Re: My thoughts about closing MPLAs to divers.... posted by Steve on November 02, 2002 at 07:32:45:
I try to call a spade a spade and ....
>Sending in droves of divers with camares and
>strobes flashing chases and scattering the
>delicate structure and make up of said habitat
>while dropping and dragging anchors destroying >kelp, invertebrate life and eggs would not be on
>the menu.
is the equivelent of saying "Do it for the children"... (ie. BS) Your arguements seem contrived. See if you can come up with better reasoning, like for adults.
While the purpose of the reserves is stated as being to prevent the collapse of local fish populations (actually to keep them healthy), as a diver, I have to think of the value of what the preserves would offer to myself and others, especially new divers. Other divers could see what I saw when I took up diving. That was magic for me then and I think it would be for them. Also I could again see vibrant lush reefs without having to travel to the outer islands or to the North Coast to see some remote, hidden reef..
Clemente is not my favorite island to dive, but a reserve there... It would be incredible.
The reserve at La Jolla is a good example. I can see that it is not completely balanced ecologically, but it is small. Still, it is certainly the best shore dive I've ever made.
Besides what it offers the diver, I can tell you from a very strong background that the non-hunters have negligable impact on a kelp reef yet, what it would offer!
Ya know, back when Mr Kane mentioned about putting a wreck off Catalina, I said I thought it had more potential than he thought. I think that may be true for these reserves as well. You can't imagine what these might come to be like.
Enjoy the diving, seahunt
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Note that the otter re-location wanted to close Nic off to divers so they wouldn't disturb the otters. Well, after watching the rodents mating in Monterey Harbor as powerboats wizzed by, (and other things) convinced me that they are not that easy to disturb. They are different, but the reef seems to respond the same way. Humans are not part of their world.