I tried to shoot a bear this last time out, but my ammo got wet in the ocean. Maybe that's why the abs were so scarce, the bears scared them!
abalone diving in month of june
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I tried to shoot a bear this last time out, but my ammo got wet in the ocean. Maybe that's why the abs were so scarce, the bears scared them!
congrats on graduating from "ab diving might be fun" to the "ab diving is fun and now that i get my limit every time, i need my own gear" club. very cool.
as for whites, i've always figured it was like police officers giving tickets: it's the one you didn't see that gets you... so you might as well focus on getting your abs.
i'll give a heads-up early next week re thurs / fri dive... i'm hope to have pre-release stuff done by this sun night and handing it off for layout / final review.
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i have NEVER seen a bear underwater while ab diving. never-ever.I tried to shoot a bear this last time out, but my ammo got wet in the ocean. Maybe that's why the abs were so scarce, the bears scared them!
i HAVE seen (what i believe was) a bighorn sheep next to me in the ocean while bug diving off santa cruz island in the channel islands... caused me to pee my wetsuit... which, in turn, warmed me up nicely
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Bummer 
Not a lot of info, but it sounds like he may have been diving alone? otherwise you'd think his dive buddies would have been the one reporting it...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/23/BATM1AOV1S.DTL
Not a lot of info, but it sounds like he may have been diving alone? otherwise you'd think his dive buddies would have been the one reporting it...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/23/BATM1AOV1S.DTL
indeed, very sorry to read this.Bummer
i checked the salt point online conditions report on wed/thurs of last week (hey, a guy can dream, right?!) and iirc it said it was going to be really thumpy.
a good reminder of why old guys like me take young pups like you (and, cough, ken...) along as dive partners
indeed, very sorry to read this.
i checked the salt point online conditions report on wed/thurs of last week (hey, a guy can dream, right?!) and iirc it said it was going to be really thumpy.
a good reminder of why old guys like me take young pups like you (and, cough, ken...) along as dive partners
Young guys like me...
That's sweet Hal. :wink:
just sharing the thanksgiving love, ken
I'm back from my trip to Australia.. I did see some abalone there, at the Sydney Fish Market. I will post some pics later, although the abalone pics aren't very exciting.
For now, I'll share a 12 minute video I complied from underwater footage I shot while scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef. Some cool stuff in there - the video starts out with some coral cod attacking an octopus, and also show some rays, snakes, sharks, etc..
http://vimeo.com/12397753
Next time we go ab diving, I'll bring the underwater camera!
-Josh
For now, I'll share a 12 minute video I complied from underwater footage I shot while scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef. Some cool stuff in there - the video starts out with some coral cod attacking an octopus, and also show some rays, snakes, sharks, etc..
http://vimeo.com/12397753
Next time we go ab diving, I'll bring the underwater camera!
-Josh
Darn poachers!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/05/MNUM1E7B57.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/05/MNUM1E7B57.DTL
Surge in abalone hunting puts species at risk
Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Chronicle July 5, 2010 04:00 AM
Monday, July 5, 2010
Michael Macor / The Chronicle
A rash of abalone poaching along the Northern California coast combined with a huge increase in legally harvested mollusks has left so few of the delicacies clinging to the rocks that the population could be in jeopardy, state game wardens say.
Dozens of citations have been issued and a number of arrests made along the Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino county coastlines over the past three months during a poaching crackdown by the California Department of Fish and Game and other law enforcement agencies.
The illegal gluttony is particularly troubling when one considers that the number of legally harvested abalone has doubled in both Sonoma and Mendocino counties over the past two years, officials said. The shoreline scramble for the big sea snails is so voracious, fish and game wardens said, that it could lead to the species' demise.
"Despite our cooperative efforts, the abalone resource is struggling," said Nancy Foley, fish and game's chief of law enforcement. "Abalone are being harvested from the two counties - via both legal and illegal means - at an unsustainable rate."
More than 700 vehicles were stopped at checkpoints near abalone hotspots in Sonoma and Mendocino counties in May and June. Authorities issued 57 citations and seized 84 abalones in Sonoma County. In Mendocino County, they gave out 41 citations and confiscated 85 abalones.
Two weekends ago, National Park Service rangers busted six people who illegally collected 17 abalones at Tomales Point during low tide.
The commercial harvest of wild abalone has been banned in California since 1997. There are size requirements and limits on the number of abalones recreational divers and collectors may take. The use of scuba gear is also prohibited.
The fine for a first offense is usually in the $1,000 range, but repeat offenders can be convicted of felonies and sentenced to jail. The problem, wardens say, is that a single abalone can fetch $100 on the black market, and because of this the poachers keep coming back for more.
On May 21, Randy Appleyard, 26, of Waterford was convicted of a felony for poaching abalone for commercial sale while on probation for the same offense. He was sentenced in Mendocino County Superior Court to three years in state prison and fined $20,000. His co-conspirators, Christopher Kern, 27, of Orangevale and Philip Horch, 27, of Fair Oaks were given 270 and 180 days in jail and fined $20,000 each. All of them were banned from fishing for the rest of their lives.
"It is a big deal," said Spencer Brady, the chief deputy district attorney for Sonoma County. "People are aware of" the seriousness of abalone poaching. "Juries don't like it."
Red abalone can be legally harvested in California for personal consumption as long as the harvester tags and documents that each abalone is the appropriate size using a special punch card.
About 50,000 red abalones were legally taken off Fort Ross in Sonoma County in 2009, and 60,000 were taken at Fort Ross Reef, said Patrick Foy, a California game warden. Those numbers, he said, are double the amount harvested in the same areas in 2007.
During the same period, some 14,000 of the creatures were pried off the rocks at Moat Creek, and 16,000 were taken in the waters off Van Damme State Park in Mendocino County. That's approximately twice the number of red abalones that were legally harvested three years ago, Foy said.
Foy said periodic checkpoints screening the harvests of licensed abalone divers have, on average, found that about 10 percent of the abalones that were supposedly legal violated some aspect of state law, including size requirements and limits on the number taken by an individual.
"The percentage of the actual number of violations we catch is impossible to document, but it is pretty low," Foy said. "We are stretched very, very thin, and there is no relief in sight."
There are about 100 fewer state fish and game wardens than there were in 2001. The 230 or so California wardens cover 1,100 miles of coastline and protect wildlife as far as 200 miles out to sea. California has the lowest per capita number of wardens in the United States, Foy said.
With California facing a $19 billion budget deficit, the situation is not expected to improve.
And abalones are not the only animal that poachers target. Foy said profiteers have illegally taken vast quantities of freshwater clams, salmon, turtles, snakes and amphibians and put them up for sale in food markets, including in San Francisco's Chinatown, or sold them to collectors. The illegal sale of California wildlife and wildlife parts generates an estimated $100 million a year, according to department officials.
Still, abalone poaching has been a major problem for a long time. In 2009, 11 people were arrested and 120 citations were issued in Sonoma and Mendocino counties after an elaborate ring of abalone poachers with headquarters in a hotel room was discovered. That same year, two people were arrested in Monterey County after they were caught with 51 rare black abalones, a federally listed endangered species.
"We're very concerned about the long-term sustainability of the abalone resource," Foy said.
"One of the defendants in our latest sweep was on probation for the same offense, so whatever he was fined and whatever jail time he got the first time wasn't enough for him to stop poaching. At this rate, the abalone may not be able to replace themselves fast enough to keep up with the harvest."
Red abalone
About the Haliotis rufescens:
Population: Exact numbers are difficult to estimate, but they are the most common of the seven species of abalone in California.
Habitat: Rocky intertidal areas with kelp in cold Northern California waters up to 100 feet deep.
Diet: They primarily feed on kelp and algae.
Shell length: The dome-shaped shells can reach a foot long, making red abalone the largest species of abalone in the world.
Life span: They can live 30 to 50 years. It takes at least 10 years for them to reach the legal harvest size of 7 inches.
Reporting poachers: Contact the California Department of Fish and Game CalTip line at (888) 334-2258.
Source: California Department of Fish and Game and the University of California
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/05/MNUM1E7B57.DTL#ixzz0sw9CA7cR
josh,
what a coincidence that you posted this just now... i was signing on to say that my surgeon has cleared me for diving (*and* driving and to post this very same article.
i'll shoot you and ken a note in a moment about an ab dive schedule for august.
hal
btw, the article pissed me off, too.
what a coincidence that you posted this just now... i was signing on to say that my surgeon has cleared me for diving (*and* driving
and to post this very same article.i'll shoot you and ken a note in a moment about an ab dive schedule for august.
hal
btw, the article pissed me off, too.
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It seems a little counter intuitive to read that even legal abalone fishing may lead to their demise and then make plans to go diving.
But I'm in for an early August dive with you guys. Just say when.
But I'm in for an early August dive with you guys. Just say when.
I'm glad you guys are making plans to go diving. I'm hungry.
i'll bring your weight belt!
doug, you should cruise along with us if you like.
if you come along, i will prepare and cook one of my abs on-the-spot for our lunch. ken and the other boys can chip in one of their abs, too, or watch and drool.
OK. Swing by and pick me up. I'll watch you guys eat.
you're on!OK. Swing by and pick me up. I'll watch you guys eat.
Sounds grreat...I've put their privacy tent on back order for Doug in case he wants to sit back and read for awhile. I got the one with kittens and puppies on it -I think he'll really like it
It's one thing to have friends and quite another thing to have thoughtful friends. Ken, thanks for thinking of the Bumper Dumper. Hal, I really appreciate the idea of the privacy tent. The kittens and puppies pattern is perfect. I can bring my Kindle. I could go on, but I am starting to get a little emotional...:tongue:
Doug, I can bring my Ton Robbins motivational tapes to help you through the "process". :wink:
Ken, I find the thought of that very "moving.":wink:
alright, ken... let's quit dumping on doug....
i was really torn between kittens / puppies and my lil' pony, so am glad that works for you.
after reading through this thread again, doug, i think i might be able to rig the bumper dumper so when it's in use, it plays a series of tv commercial songs we all know and love, like the pepto bismol theme, draino theme ("and away goes trouble down the drain"... or is that roto rooter? dang!) or maybe even the spoken sound track to the "little engine that could" (just in case the user needs some, er, "encouragement".)
taking this whole auto-BD thing just a little further (farther? ken, help me out here), we could also wire that pressure switch so that when pressure is off the, er, dumper, the curtain automagically open and a recorded voice says, "ladies and gentlemen, the magnificent carnac" or something similar.
OH WOW - I'VE GOT IT! ken could use a leftover window-fixit-thingie to THROW THE CURTAINS OPEN and voila(!), there you are.
(i wonder if this means we have to license the rights to use my lil' pony? if a bear goes doody in the woods and the pony neighs but the owner doesn't hear it...? dunno.)
we've got 3 weeks to work all this out... let's get on it
I suggested the 'lil ponies to Doug, but he pooh poohed the idea. :wink:
Well I'm sorry, but I thought 'lil ponies looked crappy.:tongue:
i'm flushed with excitement at the design possibilities
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