Pinniped freak out.

skansand · Post by **skansand** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 10:34 pm

i was spearfishing at thousand steps beach in laguna last week with a friend with a couple bigger seals...those thing look so cool under water but make anyone so uncomfortable....there were a couple yesterday too at the pier which by the way was sooo going off....Long rides and hollow barrels ..6-8 with 10' sets.....but ive had great sessions with little ones at 56 st.....surf with you for hours....if your interested we speared a hefty load of fish that day....12 blacksmith perch,a sculpin out of season

, a couple surfperch, 1 sheephead,2 big sargo and the trophy... one 15 pound morey eel....HUGE teeth on him...we both stuck him and swam him to the beach...wriggled off my spear 3 times.......also found a breakdown hawaiin sling in a groove of the reef....80 dollar spear...sucks for the previous owner.

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 10:38 pm

Sea life & See life share there world they are the locals. Once in Humbolt bay I started to paddle over to a bull sea lion. My bubby yelled at me don't go over there. Later on the beach he told me to think big big dog not cool sea life. Did I say I was in Humbolt.....?

KAVA · Post by **KAVA** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:57 pm

i bumped into a 4' leapord shark head on while nite diving at crystal cove (newprt/laguna). scared the crap outta both of us! lol!

skansand · Post by **skansand** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:05 pm

i landed on a 1 .1/2 foot leapord shark while bodyboarding bolsa chica shorebreak....showed him to my friends then let him swim off my board...i was stoked....Night Diving at crystal cove??? Lobster??...pretty crazy stuff...hmmm thought!! Where do you buy kava root anyway???

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 10:59 pm

Being part of the food chain is part of the thrill. I tell my frends it is not the big things that are out in the water. Not the Seals, sharks, long boarders that I fear, it is the micros Won't go in after the day after the rain. It's the poo in the water that will get you.

surfhorn · Post by **surfhorn** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 10:58 am

My son was freaked a few yeaa ago while body surfing and a pod of dolphins swam by.........and one hit his foot. Major painful.

ocean7847 · Post by **ocean7847** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:43 am

Scott MacDonald wrote:There was a little spotted harbor seal for years at 4Mile that would hang
out and play games with people. It would come up underneath you while
you were paddling and brush across your legs.

Or you would be sitting on your board and it would grab the tip of one of
your swim fins and tug on it!

I remember sitting on my board one day and looking down, and he was
about two feet under me just hanging there looking up at me.

The funniest time was a small summer morning when I paddled out with
my brother. I hadn't even made it outside when the little fella brushed up
against my legs, so I knew he was around. Another guy paddled out with
us and was sitting with us waiting for a wave. He had no idea about the
seal, and all of a sudden it grabbed his bootie and gave it a big tug.

The guy jumped so hard I thought he was going to soil his wetsuit!
He caught the next wave in and got the hell out of there.

ummmmm, dude, how long ago was this!?!? it coulda been me!

i was out there like two years ago and had the spotted fella start nibbling on my right bootie tip, with his paws wrappign around my calf - i FLIPPED out initially, fell off my board, and had bug eyes. i didn't go in right away - but i did move in from the outside of the pack and surf insiders the rest of the sess!

i was spearfishing at thousand steps beach in laguna last week with a friend with a couple bigger seals...those thing look so cool under water but make anyone so uncomfortable....there were a couple yesterday too at the pier which by the way was sooo going off....Long rides and hollow barrels ..6-8 with 10' sets.....but ive had great sessions with little ones at 56 st.....surf with you for hours....if your interested we speared a hefty load of fish that day....12 blacksmith perch,a sculpin out of season , a couple surfperch, 1 sheephead,2 big sargo and the trophy... one 15 pound morey eel....HUGE teeth on him...we both stuck him and swam him to the beach...wriggled off my spear 3 times.......also found a breakdown hawaiin sling in a groove of the reef....80 dollar spear...sucks for the previous owner.

not to be a negative nancy, but don't you think that load was a bit excessive? its not like the wildlife off the LA and OC coast has an easy time with the runoff and development - just seems like you took an awful lot of fish from that area. as for the huge morey eel - it it was as cool and big as you mention, i think you ought to have left the old fella live.

i do eat fish and meat, but harvesting like that off thousand steps in laguna? c'mon, live and let live a bit, eh?

skansand · Post by **skansand** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:44 pm

..i appreciate your concern for the environment, Ocean..understand that we eat everything we catch/spear...nothing gos to waste...we shot the morey thinking it would be great sushi and/or soup fish....after spending 15 minutes cleaning the thing i gave up on it(it ended up being half fat.and the meat that was salvaged smelled foul and oily) .i wish i didnt spear him now and ill know next time...live and learn right??..the rest of the fish arent even targeted as game fish...swim out there on day ..theres thousands of them....on party boats sculpin and perch are usually released unless its a slow time of the year...as for sheepshead...it takes a pretty good cook to make the soft meat work....great soup fish...also this IS thousand steps beach...rarely fished because of the 250+ steps you have to walk down to get to the beach...it is my favorite beach and i can recognise alot of the locals around there...great all year round for surf (if you like massive closeouts and the occasional perfect wedge...i been there on soulth swells when newport wedge was 5' and steps was 8'!!!!...check out the reckless abandon video in the surfline archives....look familiar????

..once again thankyou for your concern, i wish everyone was as aware......
peace
matt

ocean7847 · Post by **ocean7847** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:20 pm

no worries, i don't care about hunting so long as you eat what you take. just thought that was a hefty take for that area - but i'll admit i've never snorkeled or speared there, just surfed, so i don't really know population levels. that said, morey eels are so cool and not edible really, which is why i was like "noooo! not the morey!"

KAVA · Post by **KAVA** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:31 pm

skansand

i have my own local supplier of kava. but there are pleanty of places on the net to buy it. one of my cousins in hawaii sells over the net here is a link. tell him you were refered by HBKC

http://www.kavaroots.net/page/page/2405607.htm

Mike Fernandez · Post by **Mike Fernandez** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:42 pm

WOW, this thread was great! I really am envious of all the experiences you guys have had with sealife while surfing.