dwashbur

We've had something similar going on up here in Puget Sound. The extremists have decided that any wooden structure or old pier is going to be leaking creosote into the water so they all have to be removed. There was a dive site known as Edmonds Oil Dock that was just about the most diverse and rich mini-ecosystem in the entire Sound. It hasn't been a working dock for ages, so it was just a very nice dive site. The powers that be decided it had to come out because it MIGHT still be leaching creosote into the water and threatening the underwater life. Now, nobody even bothered to test the water and see if there was actually any creosote left in the pilings, but what's that got to do with it? It was all politics. After it was ripped out, who knows how many invertebrates pointlessly destroyed, zillions of fish robbed of habitat, and the site turned into a barren wasteland, the truth came out: some rich folks in condos living on the hill above the site didn't want to look out their windows and see the old dock. And it didn't matter to them how much life was rubbed out or what was done to the actual ecosystem; they were going to have their nice view no matter what. And they got it. How? By tossing a few hot-button words at the environmental extremists and then sitting back and watching things snowball out of control. There has to be a way to counter the extremists. As a diver, I'm an environmentalist. But you don't save an ecosystem by destroying it. As with so many other things in life, it's all about balance. But try telling that to the politicians.

...find my own posts? I need to go back to something I posted about a month or so ago and can't figure out how to find it without sifting through a ton of stuff. Then again, it takes very little to confuse me.

Just F everybody's I, neither Backscatter location works on these cameras any more. The east coast one referred me to Southern Nikonos. I've contacted them and will pass along any info I get from them.

Could be. In the meantime, if someone has a couple of parts for one that they don't want, let me know. I need the cover for the strobe connection port, and the battery cover since this one is stripped and doesn't screw in properly.

Someone gave me this camera, and I was fiddling with it, clicking the shutter and working the advance lever (no film) when it just quit working. the lever won't go, the button does nothing. I have no idea what happened, it didn't take a bump or anything like that, it just...stopped. Does anybody have any idea why and how to correct it? I've contacted Backscatter in Monterey (no answer yet) but if there's something I can do while I wait, might as well.

Since both of my regular buddies and I wear black gloves for the nice Puget Sound cold water, one of us will often put a hand behind the critter while the other takes pictures. Not a perfect system, but we get some decent pictures.

I know how well they cleaned it up; I was there and watched it happen. At the same time, that's as opposed to, say, Idaho, which chose from the beginning to limit wildcat growth and development precisely to avoid finding themselves in a situation like LA. Ah, I'm just yanking your chain a bit. I do give CA credit for cleaning up the mess they had made. I just believe, based on research and personal experience as well as raising 3 great kids, that positive reinforcement works better than punishment as a first resort. I wholeheartedly agree that plastic doesn't belong in the ocean, and try to pick it up whenever I find it during a dive. What's the ultimate solution? I haven't a clue. But I doubt that banning plastic bags in one little corner of the Pacific Rim is going to do much.

I have news for you. I've lived in CA and I've lived in 7 other states, and most of the other states either curse or laugh at CA. I'm always amused by CA's inflated opinion of itself. If you don't mind some clown of a politician penalizing you if you scratch your butt too many times a day, that's your problem. Positive reinforcement will still get better results every time. But CA will never figure that out, because the other way generates too many extra tax dollars for the Powers That Be.

You had me there for a second But it's not my hand in the picture, so NYAAAHHHH!!!!! Thanks for the welcome. So far I like it here...

We found this worm just below the surface at the breakwater in Monterey Bay, California, at the beginning of a night dive recently. So far we can't find it in any of our books, and it's outside Leslie's bailiwick Can anybody identify it?

That's the kind of bass-ackward thinking that has people leaving California in droves. First, regulate it. Second, penalize people for it. Third, don't give them any positive reason to do something. When are people going to figure out that it DOESN'T WORK????? If you want people to cut down on something like using plastic bags and containers, offer them a carrot instead of a whip. Make it to their advantage to do so. I'm in Salinas, California right now, and they already charge a deposit on things like 2 liter soda bottles. The 10 cent deposit gets refunded when you take the bottle to the recycling center, which is about as well marked and easy to find as the Treasure of El Dorado. So, most people around here recycle their bottles and get the money back, right? Wrong. Almost nobody does it. Why? Because it's not worth the time and effort just to get back something that they consider another part of the cost of living. Now, if the state dropped their idiotic deposit, and a recycling company came in and said "We'll pay you X amount per pound for your bottles" or something like that, so the consumer actually MADE a little on it, more people might do it. [Aside: in this town, bigger signs pointing to where the stupid recycling place is would help, too.] Taxing something isn't going to change people's behavior regarding it.

No problem. I can think of worse names to be associated with!

Dusty?????? Yeah, so far nobody at NW or at the norcal forum of SB has been able to ID it. I posted it both places. I'll check this specialist out, thanks!

We found a couple more at roughly the same location a few days later. Here is another picture. Still no ID on these guys...

We found this chiton at the Point Lobos Marine Reserve near Carmel, California, a few days ago. My buddies and I are usually pretty good at identifying chitons, but this guy has us stumped. We haven't been able to find anything with those characteristic blue spots. We know the spots are part of the animal because there was another one just like it nearby. Can anybody help?