aceheart1976
New member
cutnip, in south carolina, about 2-3 miles off shore there is some nice shipwrecks and reefs that i go to a few times a year, to fish and scubadive. some pretty nice stuff there last time i was there
For those thinking of taking something home
- Thread starter airinhere
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airinhere
New member
Nothing yet, I have recently taken a job working at a local dive shop, so I havent had the inclination to do much follow up. On a positive note, now I am preparing to start diving on a regular basis since I get free rentals of scuba gear.
Of course the guy getting attacked by a shark at Monterey is throwing a wrench in my plans to go diving there this weekend. Thats where I intended to go diving.
One guy gets eaten and suddenly "scuba diving is dangerous".
He was surfing
.
The shark was only about twenty feet long.
Hope hes okay.
Scary.
Of course the guy getting attacked by a shark at Monterey is throwing a wrench in my plans to go diving there this weekend. Thats where I intended to go diving.
One guy gets eaten and suddenly "scuba diving is dangerous".
He was surfing
.
The shark was only about twenty feet long.
Hope hes okay.
Scary.
aceheart1976
New member
the reason the shark attacked him, from what i have read, watched, and personal exp over the years, is because surfers look like big seals from the underside and that is their "treat" or main meals usually.
i am a scuba diver and have swimmed with tons of very large sharks with only a bull shark in the bahamas getting frisky enough to "try" to attack. he was mainly curious as to what we was and what we were doing.
some of the sharks we have dove with have been 25 foot+ hammerheads, blacktips,white tips, tiger sharks, and very very large nurse sharks
those "documentaries" on discovery channel doesnt show you what they have to do to get the sharks into a mad feeding frenzy, and they know people dont want to sit there for an hour or 2 watching sharks the way the are 99% of the time in the wild. the are very docile gentle giants for the most part
i am a scuba diver and have swimmed with tons of very large sharks with only a bull shark in the bahamas getting frisky enough to "try" to attack. he was mainly curious as to what we was and what we were doing.
some of the sharks we have dove with have been 25 foot+ hammerheads, blacktips,white tips, tiger sharks, and very very large nurse sharks
those "documentaries" on discovery channel doesnt show you what they have to do to get the sharks into a mad feeding frenzy, and they know people dont want to sit there for an hour or 2 watching sharks the way the are 99% of the time in the wild. the are very docile gentle giants for the most part
airinhere
New member
You know that, I know that, my family is not so certain. I live very close to my folks house and see them often, they were not too sure they wanted me going swimming with a killer shark.
Not that it mattered, I ended up working and cleaniong my garage this weekend.
I always tell people I am not afrraid of any sharks, fish or any large predators in the water. What really concerns me is the stinging stuff. Fire coral, stonefish, jellyfish. Poison can mess you up fast and you usually never see it coming.
At least with a big predator, you can try to fight it off.
Besides, very little in the ocean has developed the taste for humans as food. So if you get bitten; either you are violating their territory, personal space or they are just investigating what you are.
Anything thats big enough to eat people without discrimination, your 'pooched' anyways.
Not that it mattered, I ended up working and cleaniong my garage this weekend.
I always tell people I am not afrraid of any sharks, fish or any large predators in the water. What really concerns me is the stinging stuff. Fire coral, stonefish, jellyfish. Poison can mess you up fast and you usually never see it coming.
At least with a big predator, you can try to fight it off.
Besides, very little in the ocean has developed the taste for humans as food. So if you get bitten; either you are violating their territory, personal space or they are just investigating what you are.
Anything thats big enough to eat people without discrimination, your 'pooched' anyways.
aceheart1976
New member
i usually go to beaufort/huntington island. havnt been in about 3 years though 
what part of sc you in?
what part of sc you in?
roblack
Active member
From what I understand you cannot ever take any stony corals from FL reefs, and need permits to take softies. There is a dive company in the Keys that allows you to collect reef fish, they have the permits, but I dont know about rics and what not. I will see if I can find their info.
aceheart1976
New member
with what i have read, in Fl all you need is a residence fishing license to take fish/corals. if you find out anything different please let us know something
roblack
Active member
It is illegal in FL to take any corals or liverock without a proper permit, and from what I understand they are not issuing new permits. Some people have old permits that are still legal. The only exception I know of is those who are granted permits for educational and research purposes. Personally, I am glad the state strictly regulates such practices, our reefs here need some time to recover. However, if conditions do not improve, I would support the collection of local corals to preserve them in private aquaria and hopefully reintroduce them when the environment could sustain them. I talked with someone who works with the state of Florida's aquaculture program about getting permits to collect coral, grow it out, and replant them in new/other areas where they are depleted or gone. I was told that I was not the first to come up with this idea, but it would be unlikely that anyone other than those from a research or educational institute would be granted such.
snookhunter
New member
You don't need any permits to collect softies, zoos and inverts and some fish /plants, you just need a florida fishing license. Check out the FWC website and the restrictions and daily bag limits are all listed there for you.
aceheart1976
New member
thats what i thought also snook, thank you for confirming this, do you know if there is a site like that for south carolina?
Most states have some sort of department in charge of such things, usually something along the lines of a department of enviroment, conservation, natural resources or fish and wildlife or some such. Those are the folks you usually need to check with.
aceheart1976
New member
i have looked for sometime now trying to find a website like that one for here lol
snookhunter
New member
Ace,
I am not sure about SC, but just contact the dept. wildlife for SC and they can give you the info.
I am not sure about SC, but just contact the dept. wildlife for SC and they can give you the info.
The problem with the idea and the reason that they wont even consider it is that once it enters the aquarium setting there is no guarentee that it wont be in contact with something from the pacific... wether it was fish, corals, sand, rock, algae... anything. With that contact comes the chance of introducing something into the wild that could become an invasive species. That in itself could potentially cause more harm than any amount of collecting if the wrong thing was accidently introduced. This is why only state and educational facilities can get permits to collect, because they are stricly limited on what comes into contact with the corals, where as for private entities there is no way to guarentee.
airinhere
New member
Well its been a couple of months, but I did a week long dive trip to Florida and had a great time.
I collected (the proper term for gathering organisms for home aquaria use) many different critters. Sponges, octocorals, shrimps, crabs, fish, macroalgaes and serpent stars.
As far as shipping everything, I was fighting cold weather and still had a pretty good survival rate. The breather bags are a decent solution for some smaller fish and inverts, but I think I will use regular plastic bags for anything larger in the future.
One thing about shipping is the difficulty becoming a "known shipper" for the Air cargo departments of the airlines. Unless you are a certified 'known shipper" you can not use the airlines and the cost of shipping via postal groups (Fex-Ex, UPS, DHL) goes up quickly.
In Florida, there are strict limits on the amounts and types of things you can collect. It was still an amazing experience and (while very expensive to do), I think I will enjoy my Florida biotope tank more than any other tank because I know where everything came from.
As far as importing into the country...
I have never heard back from the Solomon Islands Government. I think their website is largely unattended.
I am putting in for my passport very soon and will start filling out the proper paperwork for importing corals, fish and inverts.
As I complete each step, I will post my progress here.
I am diving Monterey this weekend, and will talk to some park rangers about local collecting laws or guidelines. I still would love to have a coldwater tank.
I collected (the proper term for gathering organisms for home aquaria use) many different critters. Sponges, octocorals, shrimps, crabs, fish, macroalgaes and serpent stars.
As far as shipping everything, I was fighting cold weather and still had a pretty good survival rate. The breather bags are a decent solution for some smaller fish and inverts, but I think I will use regular plastic bags for anything larger in the future.
One thing about shipping is the difficulty becoming a "known shipper" for the Air cargo departments of the airlines. Unless you are a certified 'known shipper" you can not use the airlines and the cost of shipping via postal groups (Fex-Ex, UPS, DHL) goes up quickly.
In Florida, there are strict limits on the amounts and types of things you can collect. It was still an amazing experience and (while very expensive to do), I think I will enjoy my Florida biotope tank more than any other tank because I know where everything came from.
As far as importing into the country...
I have never heard back from the Solomon Islands Government. I think their website is largely unattended.
I am putting in for my passport very soon and will start filling out the proper paperwork for importing corals, fish and inverts.
As I complete each step, I will post my progress here.
I am diving Monterey this weekend, and will talk to some park rangers about local collecting laws or guidelines. I still would love to have a coldwater tank.
bangaii man
New member
I went to the Florida keys with my wife in dec '07 and we did a collection dive in a non sanctioned reef off of duck key. I got the necessary permit, and it was awesome!!! I bagged my fish and put them in a box with a cooler inside with some chemical hand warmers in there, we just checked it in as luggage and everything made it back to CT alive.
commercialdiver
New member
hey thanks for the interesting read. keep us posted on how it all goes and exact costs if you dont mind. i am myself probably headed for the british virgin islands and am a little more than slightly interested in bringing back some little beasties.
PosinSeaUrchin
New member
The one good thing about aquarium owners/divers collecting there own fish/coral is that they probibly will not use cyanide/TNT to collect what they want like some busniess will do and its a sad thing what theyll do to make a buck or two
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