Lindsey, well once a great river flowed from the northern rockies to the sea of cortez. now it's just a trickle. That's a
great source of nutrients that are no longer supplying the filter feeders , they die off , the predatory snails soon follow.
After a few decades something else will come in to occupy their space and thus the cycle is complete . One day Hoover dam
will fail , the water will return and so will the filter feeders. Now all you have to do is live a few centuries to witness
all this . I plan to be there ,,,ferret
-----Original Message-----
From: Lindsey Groves <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, May 02, 2000 12:35 PM
Subject: A.M. Keen & collecting


|To all of Conch-L:
|
|        The late Myra Keen commented quite eloquently in her 2nd edition of "Sea
|Shells of Tropical West America" (1971, p. 9-10) her concerns regarding
|conservation and collectors "self-restraint" by including a "Shell
|Collector's Code of Ethics." It was primarily aimed at growing problems in
|the Gulf of California at the time but she urged collectors everywhere to
|adhear to the code.  However, she ultimately blamed pollution as the
|"greatest threat of all to the marine fauna."  Enough said.
|
|Aloha,
|
|Lindsey T. Groves
|
|At 01:45 AM 5/2/00 -0400, you wrote:
|>>To those who are interested in Shelling In Florida:
|>
|>>The environmentalists are winning here and they are as misinformed and
|>>authoritarian as in California.
|>>
|>>We did our best live collecting on the mainland near Ft. Myers and are so
|>>disgusted with the short-sightedness and ignorance of the locals regarding
|>>the true dangers to inland mollusc populations that we will not return
|>>there. The hypocrisy of these local officials is so great that it staggers
|>>my imagination. They deny us the right to harvest molluscs and then continue
|>>to allow development and pollution in sensitive mangrove and coastal marsh
|>>areas!!!! The fertilizer run-off in Lee and Charlotte Counties has been
|>>poisoning the Pine Island Sound for years - yet now they are not cleaning up
|>>their act, they, are simply not allowing any form of live shelling!
|>
|>
|>I believe Bob has an important point regarding the large-scale threat to
|>molluscan (and other critter) habitat by "development" and pollution.
|>However, I think we should be careful in blaming "environmentalists," or
|>misguided officials, or busybody tourists for our difficulties. It would
|>serve us all better to try to inform the misguided and try to get them to
|>re-direct their efforts. We're all in this together...is the outlook I
|>would try to impart.
|>
|>As Bob points out, the large-scale threat generally comes from extremely
|>deep-pocketed segments of our society. These developers, agribusiness,
|>chemical manufacturers, etc., are more than happy to convince everyone that
|>all regulations are by definition unjust and oppressive. They are also glad
|>to have everyone believe that all environmentalists spike trees in order to
|>kill loggers and all enviromentalists want to blow up ski lodges.
|>Alternatively, they would be glad to have everyone believe that all we need
|>to do to remedy environmental degradation is to get everyone to recycle and
|>plant seedlings once a year.
|>
|>This image problem regarding environmentalism is compounded by the fact
|>that almost all of the top ten environmental organizations in the US are
|>funded to a large extent by Big Oil money (Pew Charitable Trust, for
|>example). But there are certainly some serious environmentalists who are
|>knowledgeable and working very hard to combat the true sources of threat to
|>our natural world.
|>
|>Anyhow, I think there's a danger sometimes that shellers get caught up in
|>feeling bitter about being inconvenienced in their hobby when there's much
|>more at stake regarding the habitats of their favorite natural organisms.
|>I'm reminded of the bumper-sticker from 20 years ago: "One nuclear bomb can
|>ruin your whole day!"
|>
|>I, for one, would support a move for COA to come out (not only in favor of
|>responsible collecting but also) in opposition to activities that result in
|>the systemic destruction of habitat. We, as naturalists, scientists,
|>hobbyists, would do well to alert the public to the big picture. (This
|>would also help clear up misconceptions about the threat posed by removing
|>hermit crabs from shells, etc.)
|>
|>Enough raving for tonight,
|>
|>David
|>Durham, NC
|>
|**********************************************************
|Lindsey T. Groves
|Collection Manager, Malacology & Invertebrate Paleontology
|Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
|900 Exposition Boulevard
|Los Angeles, CA 90006
|(213) 763-3376 (Mal), (213) 744-3485 (IP)
|(213) 746-2999 (fax)
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|**********************************************************
|