Researchers at Cal State Long Beach have tagged 34 Black Sea Bass over the summer and it's certainly possible that your divers may come across them and mistake the tag for a float or something that shouldn't be there. We'd like to remind everyone not to try to remove the tags. The research is being done by Alyssa Clevenstine (aclevenstine@gmail.com) under the supervision of Dr. Chris Lowe (Chris.Lowe@csulb.edu).

One of my divers saw a tagged BSB in the Underwater Park this weekend (didn't try to remove the tag but didn't know what it was) which is what got this conversation started. Here's the note from Alyssa:

"I'm glad to hear no one attempted to remove the tag - it is darted into the animal so trying to take it out would have done far more harm than good. This is the method our lab uses for to tag a variety of large-bodied fish. The transmitters are quite small, about the size of an A23 battery with a small cap at one end to attach the transmitter to the rest of the tag. I completed tagging for my project in August, so I will have to hope any divers and anglers that encounter the 34 tagged animals will leave them be. If you or any members of the dive community have any questions or information, feel free to pass along my email - I'd love to hear from them!"

- Ken
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Ken Kurtis
Owner, Reef Seekers Dive Co.
Beverly Hills, CA 90213