Annual Giant Pacific Octopus Census this weekend!

[enchantmentdivi]

https://www.seattleaquarium.org/NetComm ... px?pid=214

Count your octos this weekend, folks!!

[don]

Thank You! I didn't think that was coming up until Feb.
don

[H20doctor]

I'm still on the fence about this since the Kidnapping last year at redondo... How do we assure the Community of divers that Our oct's are safe ? Could you please assure me the Good of this census and that it is a good thing ? .. Thank you

[enchantmentdivi]

I'm still on the fence about this since the Kidnapping last year at redondo... How do we assure the Community of divers that Our oct's are safe ? Could you please assure me the Good of this census and that it is a good thing ? .. Thank you

Oh, hmmm, yeah, I sorta forgot about that....... I'm choosing to believe that the aquarium folks learned a hard lesson in that and won't do it again.

[nwscubamom]

I'm with Don! I thought it was during President's Day in February each year? This one really took me by surprise.

Sorry I didn't know about it sooner or would have put the word out on the Critterwatchers email list.

- Janna

[fmerkel]

Roland Anderson retired. For those that don't know him he was "Mr. GPO", initiated GPO count and studied the critters. He still is at a reduced level. Several members of the Marker Buoys are doing a midden count study for him.
The Aquarium has moved the count up to have the data to make available to the public during GPO week. The format is similar. The flier posted has the data they are looking for. I hosted a count on about half of the S. wall at Day Is. today. A NWDC member came as a guest. Sunday and Monday are still available to count. Unfortunately they did not do a very timely job of distributing the information.

Yes, they heard the diver reaction to the 'Redondo GPO caper' very well. It is neither in the nature of the Aquarium mission to be at odds with the public or dive community and certainly not at something any of the staff I work with there want. Their job is to educate and preserve the Sound and aquatic environment, something they take very seriously.

Hopefully divers will remember that they 'borrowed it' for a short while, gave it some romance, and returned it unharmed to exactly the same place it came from where it stayed for several weeks if I recall. I know I paid a call a week or 2 after the return and all was well. A few people that were involved in the discussion were invited to observe the return but unfortunately no one was available at the time/date chosen. They admit it was a faux pas and would be more than glad to lay that to rest.

If you have never been to the Aquarium I encourage you to take a day and check it out some time or at least look over their web site.

Fritz

[Octoloco]

Not to be included in the census but on 2 dives there Saturday eve/night, we saw at least 7 golf ball size GPO's - 5 bottle field area and 2 to the east in the eel grass area. They actual outnumbered the reds for a change so maybe the "borrowing" of Pepper was a good thing in the end....

[Grateful Diver]

I'm still on the fence about this since the Kidnapping last year at redondo... How do we assure the Community of divers that Our oct's are safe ? Could you please assure me the Good of this census and that it is a good thing ? .. Thank you

That's pretty harsh. Pepper wasn't "kidnapped" ... they took her for a week and put her back. She stuck around for about 2 months before deciding to move on. My guess is she got tired of dive lights and strobes in her face all the time and decided to go find a more peaceful place to raise a family. So in that respect, she was probably treated better by aquarium personnel than by us divers.

That being said, there is no possible way to give you the assurance you're asking for ... people will believe what they want to believe. After having discussed it with a few folks who are either employees or volunteers at the aquarium ... I believe that they meant well and were absolutely stunned by the reaction from the dive community. They then did the best they could to make amends. I further believe that they learned something about not taking specimens from dive sites, and that it won't ever happen again.

We all have to make our own decisions about whether that is enough assurance, and whether or not we'll choose to participate in the annual census.

I was in Connecticut over the week-end or I would have decided to participate. To my concern, the aquarium is one of the best public advocates we divers have, and it's in our best interest to support them ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[H20doctor]

If you go back to the original Thread BOB , the word Kidnap was used many times, and the thread was quite Heated... I believe my use of words Here is proper. As there were Many Divers Upset including you over the Taking of a GPO .
http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php ... ndo+kidnap
http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php ... opus+taken

[Grateful Diver]

(deleted ... apologies for hijacking a no-hijack zone) ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[H20doctor]

Edited for Moderators .. Because I let my emotions effect my Typing ... : )

[spatman]

knock it off, BOB and CHRIS.

[Sounder]

[Sounder]

I agree with Bob. The Aquarium made what we many considered a mistake (almost a year ago?), they apologized for it (almost year ago?), and they did their best to make up for it... almost a year ago. The Aquarium is FAR to important of a resource for us divers to turn against them, and I believe their intentions are to support everything divers are for. At the time of the incident, I was very upset at how the whole thing went down. Over the past year combined with their immediate response, however, I've maintained that the Aquarium is acting in-line with the interests of divers.

I would have loved to have participated in this years octo-census, but unfortunately I'm still in dry-dock for a bit yet. I'll definitely participate next year without reservations because it is a good thing.

[fmerkel]

I think a lot of disagreements like this are a result of miscommunication/misunderstanding at some level.

Obviously H20doc is concerned.
I volunteer at the Aquarium. I guarantee you they are concerned about the same thing divers are and put their working, personal, and professional lives behind trying to improve our aquatic environment. The average Aquarium employee does more in one day trying to make the Sound a better place than most divers do in a year. That's their mission, their goal, and their passion.

Open offer to H20Doc - Arrange a time with me and I'll take you on a personal tour of the Aquarium, my treat. You'll get to see some back room stuff others don't and if you want I'll introduce you to the master mind 'criminals' behind the great Pepper Abduction. They're pretty nice folks and divers themselves.

Fritz

[pensacoladiver]

Hopefully divers will remember that they 'borrowed it' for a short while, gave it some romance, and returned it

How come I never get kidnapped and romanced up? :luv:

[Joshua Smith]

Hopefully divers will remember that they 'borrowed it' for a short while, gave it some romance, and returned it

How come I never get kidnapped and romanced up? :luv:

Maybe you just haven't met the right guy, yet?

[Dashrynn]

Hopefully divers will remember that they 'borrowed it' for a short while, gave it some romance, and returned it

How come I never get kidnapped and romanced up? :luv:

[fmerkel]

How come I never get kidnapped and romanced up? :luv:

I can put your name and description on the collection board. :biggrin: No guarantees though......

[H20doctor]

As I have stated earlier I was Just asking a question .. Nicely as possible.. I used thank you at the end.. I love the seattle Aquarium , as I am a salt water Reef Keeper , and a Member of the PSAS , along with othe Reef Peeps.. Fmerkel.. Me and my 5 children visit the aquarium prob 4X a year .and I Love that place because I get to show my kids what I see when I dive up close and personal... I have 100 % Love for that place .. As do I for the GPO .. Please feel free to PM me for a tour as I've only done it once back in 2000 with the PSAS

[fmerkel]

Ah, well then it certainly would seem to be a miscommunication.
Use of the word 'kidnap' makes the inquiry seem hostile , to me anyway, and it would appear others.

If you read over the original thread you'll see the head curator Tim Chestnut owned up, and apologized.

[pensacoladiver]

Hopefully divers will remember that they 'borrowed it' for a short while, gave it some romance, and returned it

How come I never get kidnapped and romanced up? :luv:

Maybe you just haven't met the right guy, yet?

Well, I walked right into that one.

[Sounder]

Hopefully divers will remember that they 'borrowed it' for a short while, gave it some romance, and returned it

How come I never get kidnapped and romanced up? :luv:

Maybe you just haven't met the right guy, yet?

Well, I walked right into that one.

Check mate... well played.