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Re: Re: I Otter Be Diving


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Posted by Max Bottomtime on March 11, 2012 at 09:06:32:

In Reply to: Re: I Otter Be Diving posted by SDM on March 11, 2012 at 06:32:35:

I recall reading your posts about the spearfishing in O.C. during the 50s and 60s. There were many large game fish to be taken, and they were. Now, Laguna Beach is nothing more than urchins and garibaldis. The otters were not responsible for that.
Along the Central Coast where the otters live are thriving reefs. Shellfish, sea stars and abalone can still be found in large numbers. There is more of a natural balance there. The only way we will ever see reefs in their natural state is to leave them alone and let nature reclaim them. We can't kill off all the predators just because we think they are eating machines. We've already done that for hundreds of years and look at where we are. Imagine if someone decided Blue Whales eat too much plankton. We should sell them all to Japan. Perhaps we should pick off fat people as they exit McDonald's.
I hope that I live long enough to see Blue Sharks in the Catalina Channel again. If the otters do make a comeback, perhaps they will eradicate the urchin barrens that plague many of our reefs. Once kelp forests begin to re-grow, more animals will move in and we can once again enjoy the type of diving as there was here decades ago.
Otters haven't been in southern California for more than one hundred years. You can't blame them for the depletion of abalone and shellfish. The two legged animals are the only ones to blame.



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