In Reply to: Re: Wanted: Alive! posted by Jim on September 19, 2008 at 08:43:58:

ABDUCTED BY ALIENS

I admit it. I am guilty of taking this lobster for a photo op so I could get its picture and a picture of releasing it to make this poster. Did that help this lobster physically? Certainly not given the stress. Being an old dude myself, I can appreciate that. On the other hand, think of the special status that this lobster now enjoys - he can tell stories about being abducted by aliens, taken up into the sky and onboard an alien “space ship”, being examined and having lights flashed at him and then returned to the ocean…Wow! But will any of the other lobsters believe him???

In all seriousness, it is the “Zoo question” for which there is no answer. Does the public awareness of animals provided by zoos justify their being kept in zoos? Is the stress of taking of one lobster to take its picture and then not putting it carefully back on the bottom but letting it go at the surface for a second photo op justified by the return in peoples’ behavior? I don’t know. I do know the Moby Kate divers have personally been promoting this behavior with our own resources to ever dive shop and dive boat in S. California including mailing them all posters for nearly a decade. There is now a culture of letting these big ones go that certainly wasn’t there when I was younger. Whether our efforts had much to do with that, who knows and frankly who cares. It simply is nice to see.

So some photographer needs to take a picture of a real big bug underwater with something by way of reference so one can see how big it is and send it to me. I promise, I’ll use your picture on next year’s wanted poster that will be sent all over S. Cal and I won’t have to bother bringing one up as I don’t do underwater photography…

• Re: ABDUCTED BY ALIENS! gonphishing 18:50:48 09/21/08 (0)