birds
are just one reason. Kayaking and kayakers as well as other non-motorized recreation activities have impacts on a wide variety of species, from mountain goats to shorebirds to marine mammals to endangered insects and others. Kayakers should not be to full of themselves about their perceived lack of impact just because they aren’t motorized. They probably just don’t realize their impact because they don’t know what to look for, as stated by one person above; I guarantee if he calls FWS he will get a good reason. Kayaks and kayakers are getting into more and more places where few people ever ventured before, and are causing their (our) own brand of disruption that is still poorly understood.
bad link. try again
larger question: preservation or
conservation?
When do we decide upon which approach? We are also species of the planet.
Perhaps paddlers aren’t the problem. Perhaps education is the problem.
Preservation vs. Conservation
While I’ll agree that education is the bigger issue, I defy you to find a method of creating a method of ensuring that all boaters understand their impact upon nature. I just don’t think it can be done, not in any practicable manner.
So that leads those in positions to set policy to lean toward rather draconian rules (whether they are appropriate or not). I don’t like it much either, but I can certainly understand it.
As far as environment impact goes, any time man is in nature, he has an impact of some kind. We may be oblivious of what that impact may be (we may not know what to look for, may not be paying attention or looking in the right direction, or we may lead the less knowledgeable to do something that may not normally do). Examples follow for those who wish to read what I think will be a long body of text.
Not knowing what to look for (what I call being oblivious impact) is the most common effect man has on nature. For example, my brother-in-law is driving down the road and I’m following. A squirrel runs out and he breaks for the animal. It runs back to the side of the road and he continues. Squirrel runs back across the road just in time to place it’s head under his rear tire. Not his fault and he probably never knew it happened (the dirt road being rather uneven), but the squirrel died nonetheless. Any time you are in nature, you have an impact. It may be small, but you cannot achieve non-zero. If you camp and animals smell food, it changes their behavior. It may be of no consequence, but you don’t know unless you can monitor all the life around you at all times. I postulate that it simply can’t be done.
Not looking in the right direction is also quite common. Seals and sea lions are intelligent, curious, and potentially aggressive animals. I used to help with SCUBA certification classes and loved to watch these animals slip behind the diver who is staring intently at the colorful three inch sea slug (nudibranch) in front of him and not know that a 6 foot 450 lb. seal is only a few inches behind their head. My favorite was the guy who turned to me to point out the lemon nudibranch he was watching only to find himself eye to eye with a large, but skittish, harbor seal. I don’t know which of them was more surprised, but by the amount of air bubbles they released, it was fairly comparable. It isn’t possible to always be aware of your surroundings, but those who live with nature best are those who tend to be aware of what is around them.
This last category is something that I have been guilty of myself, which is leading the less knowledgeable to do something. I have numerous examples, but I’ll use the one that is most common, since it maps well to the current discussion on marine mammals.
The rockwall outside Monterey harbor is a haul out for youngish sea lions (1-3 year olds, mostly, but there are some large ones as well. If paddling by here, you are required by law to maintain a 50 foot distance from the animals. I used to love to stop bit away and watch them, being careful to observe whether they are disturbed by my presence. I stay far enough away (75-100 feet), so that they glance in my direction and tend to ignore me. Rarely, one of two of the youngsters will come out to get a close look (they approach me as I’m tied off in the nearby kelp bed). These animals will tend to approach from the back, but some are bold enough to confront me directly. I’ve had more than one jump over my bow within an arm’s length and stare me in the eye as he passes over the kayak. Other kayakers have seen me calmly sitting with the sea lions frolicking about and they paddle past me to within a few feet of the rockwall. The animals panic and jump into the ocean. I’ve seen surprised boaters capsize and I’ve seen animals hurt (those big sea lions don’t stop to see if they are going to trample a smaller one, they just bolt for the water and crawl over anything in their path). The result is that now I will only tie off in the kelp forest if, and only if, there are no other paddlers about.
So, I’m all for minimizing our impact and I’d like to believe that all paddlers are as aware, or more so, than I, but I just can’t buy that as a premise.
Rick
shifting gears…
I don’t think direct impact on water holds a candle to impacts created during the creation and disposal of the modern chemical products which go into manufacturing the synthetic hulls we buy. I am an offender like the rest of us but maybe being aware of this problem will lead to better handling of these products ( and of course raise prices).
Pag
Reservoir Launch Closures and Fees?
::DesertDave wrote: But my local reservoirs closure to recreational uses, or others, once free, now cost $18 to launch on, are, to me, a different story.::
I think I’m in your same neck of the woods, or close.
Which reservoirs are closed, and which now charge $18 launch fees for kayaks? =[
As far as your intended environmental
degredation issue is concerned, I’d hazard a guess that there has been birchbark canoe traffic on whatever area you’d care to consider decades, if not centuries, before any plastic kayak was even conceived on the drawing board. Very true of the damage done to mayfly zones…however permanent damage from development, along with pollution…has done much more…imho.
$.01,
Steve
Santa Clara County, CA
11 reservoirs.
In winter, you can use Anderson and Calero.
In the summer they also allow Coyote, Stevens Creek, and now Lexington.
Lexington was free, now charges inspection, parking, launch fees totalling $18.
The others off limits. Check Lake Del Valle - it’s only about $11 total and not as far away as you think, plus Sunrise has boat house there for demos.
Well, that’s a bit sad…
Sorry to hear that there’s so many restrictions and/or fees. =/
But many thanks for the good info, Dave. Guess I’ll continue my learning process mostly on reservoirs, sloughs, and perhaps the Foster City lagoon, eventually graduating to the Bay and ocean.
Wherever they’ll let me paddle.