[billg]

Woman dies after stingray strikes her

They should have put the spotted eagle ray back in the water and let it live. What a magnificent creature!

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hy did the stingray have to die?

[billg]

I can see all your points..well said.

I just read somewhere that some people actually fish for spotted eagle rays (and other stingrays) because they put up a really good fight. Now that is sick behavior...fishing for the pure entertainment of it.

I was strongly exposed to the whole sportfishing scene in FL when I was young kid and it didnt occur to me until later in life how lame it is be forcing hooks down the throats of barracudas, sailfish, tarpon and other gamefish that have no value as a food.

[peaker_2005]

As it is, global fish stocks are dwindling, and demand has really picked up the last few years. A moratorium probably needs to be declared to allow stocks to recover.

[jboogy]

barracuda is delicious, you want to stay away from the big ones for eating as they have the accumulated mercury. Sportfishing is not the problem, most sportfishers release their catch if they're not going to eat it and there are limits on the number you can take of most species. Sportfishing is a drop in the bucket compared to the commercial catch. We used to call them ocean-rapers when we would pass one of the net boats, they would not even look at sport boats as they pass cause they know there's a good chance they'd get the finger.all kinds of stuff in their nets, half of it by-catch that would be dumped or ground-up for fertilizer.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('billg', 'I') can see all your points..well said.

[mekrob]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he message that reverberated around the world is that the ocean is not a playground for human indulgence and all indiscretions will be dealt with swift justice.

[billg]

steamcannon wrote:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')o, I'd say the sports fishermen care about the fish a lot more then the
purely profit driven fishing companies.

[billg]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mekrob', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he message that reverberated around the world is that the ocean is not a playground for human indulgence and all indiscretions will be dealt with swift justice.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('billg', 'W')ell, on a geological time scale, humans are about to be dealt a
swift blow that they won't easily recover from. The oceans are
about to rise up and pummel their plunderers. The heroic flying
spotted eagle ray is simply a harbinger of dark times to come.

[billg]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('steam_cannon', 'T')here is some truth to this, however the way you say it, it sounds like you are happy people will be suffering (though do to their own folly). You come off sounding like you simply don't care for people.

[Magus]

[quote=billg]If you are fisherman, you are quite aware of some of the awful sounds that fish can make when they are in pain (like the grunting of a catfish and the screech of a stingray).[/quote]

Fish make noises? (Obviously, you can infer here that I am not a fisherman...still, I have fished once or twice and have never heard a fish make one sound. Pardon my ignorance.

[quote=billg]

Golem...think of the Stingray as a suicide bomber (and a willing one at that). It was willing to sacrifice its life in order to bring a little justice to its extended family within the sea. No doubt, it was able to discern that the intended target was sunbathing on a motorboat, rather than a sailboat.

This noble warrior of the sea carried out its task with such forethought and precision that it managed to take the global airwaves hostage for a full day. The message that reverberated around the world is that the ocean is not a playground for human indulgence and all indiscretions will be dealt with swift justice. If I had any patience, I would write a poem about this most heroic spotted eagle ray. [/quote]

Funny...I was thinking the same thing in my mind when I read the story! I guess great minds really do think alike.

Crocodile Hunter was only the beginning!

Now all we need is a picture of a stingray strapped in explosives...