This fascinating thread seems to be headed back on course after veering too close to the shoals of name-calling and absolutism. Regulations notwithstanding, I think most of us on this list know what we should be doing. For those of us lucky enough to live and paddle within the Monterey Bay Sanctuary, maintaining the lawful distance is often impossible. What responsible instructors and outfitters teach is that all paddlers should maintain a distance sufficient to prevent any observable changes in behavior. If a paddler nearing a harbor seal haulout sees a few heads swivel in his direction, he should immediately and quietly retreat. If one of those same seals elects to closely follow a pod of kayaks, no problem, irrespective of some arbitrary boundary. Encounters initiated by wild animals are OK in my book. I'm sure many of you have paddled with dolphins. Watching them play around our boats is both thrilling and beautiful. I've never paddled close enough to whales to touch one, and if it ever happens, it will be the whale that makes the decision about the contact. It's vitally important that we all realize that the very presence of even the most environmentally sensitive among us alters our surroundings and those of the animals around us. It's unavoidable and often unpredictable. We're big animals. Even the vegans among us are apex predators of resources. We ALL use lots of those. Two short anecdotes: One otter that was reportedly rehabilitated at the Monterey Bay Aquarium was fond of hauling out on kayak decks. More recently, reliable observers report another rehabilitated otter sexually assaulting harbor seals at nearby Elkhorn Slough. These animals behave in a decidedly un-otter-like manner, probably as a direct consequence of their contact with humans. Would it have been better to let them perish as orphaned pups? I honestly don't know. But I do know that it's far harder to be honestly mindful of our presence and actions in all we do than it is to blindly follow somebody else's dictates of what is right or wrong. In the end, we're all responsible to ourselves. Mark (in Monterey, not in Sailboat Restorations) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This conduct was commented on by Dr. Peregrine Inverbon, Ph.D., DD, LL.D, Ph.G. and must result from what he called Trans Species. It is obvious that this otter's conduct does have to do with contact with Humans that are improperly oriented for the otter. The Monterey Bay Aquarium should entrust the rehabilitation process to those that have the proper species orientation; as inappropriate roll models create confusion in the wild. Fred Ca Kayaker At 12:43 PM 10/24/2000 -0700, Mark Paxton wrote: Mark said: "This fascinating thread seems to be headed back on course after veering too close........................." >....................rehabilitated at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.......... >More recently, reliable observers report another rehabilitated otter >sexually assaulting harbor seals at nearby Elkhorn Slough. > >These animals behave in a decidedly un-otter-like manner, probably as a >direct consequence of their contact with humans. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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