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Posted by seahunt on March 12, 2012 at 13:25:38:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: I Otter Be Diving posted by Max Bottomtime on March 11, 2012 at 17:26:18:
Phil, I have far far more than the mentality of a hunter and I expect that to be respected.
I have always supported the MPAs and argued for them, giving examples of their benefits in shorter time frames
than advertised.
I have always argued for artificial habitat. I have suggested that divers make individual fish habitats by piling a rock
on cracks they see.
I am almost finished with a book about how humans can and why they must operate in a balanced ecology for their
own survival.
I have always argued for commercial dock limits for sustainability.
Why? Because humans are inherently very destructive of the ecology. Otters are far worse! Sorry, but you are arguing against a morality as old as humanity. You want to leave the ecology untouched and not for the benefit of humans. OK, I disagree and I think reason is
on my side. You want diving to be just the way you want it for divers just like you. OK, but I think you are being selfish.
You and your friends are very successfully take lobsters. STOP then. I think by your rational, you should stop diving as
well. Your fuel pollutes. the ocean and your flashes disturb the animals. It's not for your benefit. Oh yah, I liked your link, so very informative and accurate...
They will eat nearly any seafood they can find in their kelp forest foraging grounds. Their diet consists of marine invertebrate herbivores and filter feeders such as mussels, sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus sp.), snails, and abalone. Otters also are known to eat crabs, octopus, squid, sea stars, and fish. Individuals tend to be specialized in their choice of prey: one otter may consume only urchins and crabs while another will eat mostly fish, all depending on the abilities of the individual otter and what is available in the area. Otters need to consume 20-25% of their body weight each day. It is simple math. They eat everything. I think the oceans are beautiful and healthy without the sea otter. They are uninteresting and hard to dive with them.
I have spent decades diving areas that were exuberently healthy with no otters. The kelp forest and its inhabitants got along
for many millions of years without them. Those nasty things eats some of the most ancient life on earth including some of
the few survivors of the greatest mass extinction of life on earth. Tell me what right they have to do that. I have the mentality of far more than a hunter. I know of no one who has spent more time celebrating writing about the
beauty of nature. The key to life is a balance. Otters radically violate that. So I challenge you. Otters would destroy the enjoyment of most divers and mostly end the sport dive boat industry. They have
already destroyed some fisheries and will destroy more. They will provide almost no benefit except to the kelp. I challenge
you to tell me any rational benefit to the spread of the plague of otters. Regards, Mike
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