Posted by kelphead on October 07, 1999 at 18:34:14:
In Reply to: That's not the whole story... posted by seahunt on October 07, 1999 at 10:17:49:
mike, i don't pretend to be a marine biologist or
even consider myself an amateur 'expert' on this
issue, and i have held high regards of your scuba
diving opinions (and will continue to in the future)
but your comment about the otters, i think, is a
little out of line here.
are you SERIOUSLY blaming the otter population for
starving themselves in the current environmental
situation??????
i truly hope you didn't mean what you wrote there.
otters have SUCCESSFULLY survived in the MILLIONS
from the southern california coastline ALL THE WAY
NORTH AND AROUND TO SIBERIA (the kamchatka peninsula)
for thousands of years.
there are 3 species of otters, the alaska one lives
more on the land than its southern california cousin,
but to blame the california otter species for its
pitiful existence smacks a little of ignorance--or
arrogance.
actually, the truth of the matter is that otters have
a very diverse diet and will eat many types of marine
life keeping many marine species in check. the over
population of the purple sea urchin had nothing to do
w/the sea otters eating themselves to the point of
starvation--it was DIRECTLY due to the otter fur trade
that ran all the way from california to the canadian
lands, which, i'm sure, you are aware of.
as far as their current starvation situation, that
is directly due to the sea otter competing w/humans
for resources--the fishing industry is starving the
sea otter population (and will pretty soon run themselves
out of business), despite the fact that they are
considered a protected species.
no, mike, i think either i misinterpreted what you
wrote, or i think you are mistaken w/your words.
i am not an evironmental 'nazi', but after learning
quite a bit about the status of our world oceans
and knowing what mankind has already done to the land--
worldwide, i would be very hardpressed to EVER blame
an animal of nature for ecological disaster. nature
actually had a perfect balance going until humans learned
about technology. and when something in nature gets
screwed up, it can be difficult to re-establish 'the
norm'.
kelphead.