Hello you all ,
Last year we had a holiday in Menorca , that is one of the Spanish Balearic
Islands . there I saw for the first time ever in a posidonia field some
30-40 ! living species of the Pinna nobilis in 3-5mtr deep water , some
100/150 meters off beach, but near rocks , and above these rocks there were
appartments , restaurants etc. Did you know , that inside these wonderfull
"mussels" there lives some lobster like creature as a sort of parasite ?
Does anyone know if this occurs in other Pinna species too ?
I must confess I took 3 with me for my own collection .One was very small ,
some 10 cm with very long spines . I know it was illegal to take them home
with me , but I simply could not resist these shells to leave them lying
dead . I simply know , that if I didn't took them , somebody else certainly
will .These specimens will be looked after very good , and are a good memory
for the best holiday ever I had over there .That doesn't justify my actually
taking them , but I will never sell these beauties , or exchange them , for
they are very precious to me . If I was very greedy I could take them all
for there was no checking at the airport at all .Despite of the fact I took
three sp. home I think I have a good common sense of letting the other
species rest .
What would you do in my situation as a shell-collector?letting them , or
take one or two?
I wrote this just to let you all know how I felt , and still feel about this
protection of endangered species .
The Cypraea's are the very same , but I will not take every species I 'll
encounter , just take for my own collection .
until another time , Jan Neefs
----- Original Message -----
From: Rafael María Puertas Rey <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 10:32 PM
Subject: Protected Mediterranean Species
> Dear Michael and all,
>
> The first Pinna nobilis I saw in my life was an item
> 'standing' near an anphora in a garden of a housing
> scheme in La Manga, Murcia (Spain). Of course, it had
> been brought there by divers.
>
> I remember thinking at once: "there must be more
> somewhere near here". I looked for Posidonia fields,
> and after a couple of days I found one -1.5 m deep. I
> could count at least forty items of 'nobilis'. Nearly
> half of the population was dead, but remained empty in
> their living position.
>
> Three years after that I came back (2000). They had
> built four new blocks close to the beach: I could only
> observe a couple of living animals; anyhow, the empty
> shells where still there, standing like 'living
> deads'... (the secret about the sumerged "graveyard"
> had been preserved). This gave me the main arguments
> for considering pollution the actual reason for their
> disappearance.
>
> Nevertheless, I agree with you. If divers had learnt
> of the population existence, the situation would have
> been even worse. I guess this is because some divers
> do not collect, though; they simply spoil.
>
> On the other hand, in case you summed up all the
> people in Málaga and Murcia in real want of a Pinna
> 'nobilis' for a serious collection (not to leave it
> 'decorating' in the grass, or to show your friends the
> 'giant mussel' you have fished), the result won't be
> much over sixty? seventy? people...
>
> Obviously, in my first mail I was talking about the
> little impact exerted by reasonable, sensible
> collectors with a deep sense of responsability, as I
> think most of us are.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Fali.
>
> Rafael María Puertas Rey.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________________________
> Nokia Game ha comenzado
> Haz clic y disfruta de la nueva aventura multimedia de Nokia
> antes del 3 de noviembre.
> http://es.promotions.yahoo.com/info/nokiagame.html
>
|
