INSANE Photo - But it INFURIATES me

[Kardinal_84]

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/...mpback+whales/


Maybe you have seen the picture:





I thought for once, this might have been a really cool accidental picture. Well in the interview, the guy brags about going to where the whales were. I hope they arrest his ass. This is the kind of BS that is going to get more restrictions placed on kayaking since I think we can slip in a lot closer than others. How about the morons in the video as part of the lead in story! ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Darwin awards please!


I apologize in advance if its anyone you know and I am taking this the wrong way, but could they have picked ANY worse of a guy to be the "national" face of kayaking? NICE FRICKIN Speedos. Too bad that whale tail didn't smack you across the side of the head and kill you. That would have been a better story. That's a terrible thing to say but my opinion is would have been a better thing all around for the kayaking community.


So sorry if I offend anyone, but this kinda CRAP HAS TO STOP!!!


I'm off my soap box now.....

[herberthums]

Hahaha I love your reaction and couldn't agree with you more. People need to learn some respect or stay home and watch animal planet.

[Birdstrike]

That was just off Santa Cruz in Monterey Bay, central California. As a former Cali. resident I'm shocked he wasn't arrested when he returned to the beach. Supposedly the public was a big problem while the whales were there for a couple of days.

[dkwarthog]

That must have been Treadwells reincarnation....nicknamed Ahab...LOL, what a moron!

[AK Explorer]

I don't get the problem. He can kayak where he wants. If the whale capsizes him or kills him, oh well, his fault for getting too close. I don't think the whale is bothered by him being there, and even if it is, it is big enough to deal with him. I think it is ridiculous for someone to tell me or this guy or anyone where we can and can't go in the open ocean or any non-privatley-owned area.

[Kardinal_84]

I don't get the problem. He can kayak where he wants. If the whale capsizes him or kills him, oh well, his fault for getting too close. I don't think the whale is bothered by him being there, and even if it is, it is big enough to deal with him. I think it is ridiculous for someone to tell me or this guy or anyone where we can and can't go in the open ocean or any non-privatley-owned area.

I've pretty much decided to take a break from posting new topics in these forums for a variety of reasons but I thought I'd address this.

What you are saying is EXACTLY my point. BUT there are laws that don't allow for it such as the marine mammal protection act. As people like this abuse those laws and people are watching, it will lead to further restrictions on where or where we can't kayak.

I am in complete agreement with you that it's as you say "ridiculous for someone to tell me or this guy or anyone where we can and can't go in the open ocean or any non-privatley-owned area." But that is exactly what is going to happen. Not by folks like me with no power over you (and remember, I agree with you), but by the federal government when they impose further restrictions and create marine preserves.

You will really think it's ridiculous if the coast guard or US fish and wildlife gives you a big ticket. But good luck fighting it. There are already bays and estuaries in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest that restrict access "to save the animals."

THAT is the problem and I hope you do see it as one given your desire for open access.

[AK Explorer]

So in a nutshell, what you are saying is that if guys like this and others don't obey the laws already on the books, there will be more? I tend to agree, but I also think if we want some of these laws repealed, people like this will have to show that they are not hurting any animals and that the charges are ridiculous. It's a double-edged sword I guess, but I see your point.

[greythorn3]

i would love to harpoon one of them and have it pull me in my kyak in the water see how fast it could go! gotta find this whale hotspot

[Alaskacanoe]

I heard yesterday on Dennis miller radio show that the fine can be $32,000 for moving a watercraft in the direction of Marine mammals inside the corridor...
you can sit in the water and if they come near you fine.. but no movement towards the critters or coast guard will act in behalf of NOAA.. and make it worth your while.
NOAA was created in the 1950's as a weather program and evolved to basically its own government body that answers to almost no one ...
similar to EPA .....it is out of hand and should never have been given any other job other than forcasting and reporting weather..
We have a border to protect, we have people trying to get into this country that dont belong, Drugs traffic thru our oceans, Terrorist threats, people that need saving from watercraft disasters etc..... and yet they have time and energy to police the whale watchers and bone headed folks that encroach on marine mammals............... and at what cost??
When will our Government agencies become truly common sense operators of the tax payers dollar?

[windvane]

If you want some interesting reading on government and some private sectors partnering and getting out of hand Google the California MLPA process, that will get your attention. That is one of the reasons I left that state, and no I don't want to Californicate Alaska,,,lol

[greythorn3]

Honestly nothing makes me madder then having to look at whales. We should blow them all up.

[Doug from Anchorage]

We should blow them all up.

Not to sidetrack (even though I am), but that reminds me. Remember the knucklheads in California that thought it would be easier to dispose of a beached dead whale, by blowing it up? Man, that still makes me laugh. The weather in town that day was a muktuk downpour. Sooo funny!

[AKDoug]

It was Oregon

[AlaskaHippie]

Classic......

[Doug from Anchorage]

It was Oregon

Sorry, they all look the same to me.......

[AKDoug]

Oregon is now just a colony of California anyway

[Doug from Anchorage]

It appears my tangent on exploding whales has sapped the energy out of this thread. Now I feel bad.....

[AKDoug]

No worries, this thread started a month ago and took two weeks to get it's first comment. It was a slow mover from birth. I am also sorry for the hijak, though.

[Doug from Anchorage]

I too am sorry. As penance, I vow to never speak of exploding whales on this forum again. Never!