Comments On: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses by Cienna Madrid

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

Pope Peabrain — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:35:15 -0800

I remember living in Maryland they had a rule about taking crabs. You left the females and only took males. You want to foster a healthy population. Something we humans are very bad at. And really, how cruel to take a mother on eggs.
Posted by Pope Peabrain

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

CbytheSea — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:17:55 -0800

As a few people mention eating a GPO doesn't seem like a great idea. I love octopus (my wife who dives thinks its comparable to eating a dog due to her fondness of both animal's intelligence), but in my experience of eating things, bigger means tougher, octopus doesn't need to be any chewier than it already is.
Posted by CbytheSea

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

mitten — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 14:57:34 -0800

great video! I'm sorry this one octopus had to die to bring attention to this amazing and highly intelligent creatures.

And I had NO idea octopuses was the plural! I've always written octopi.
Posted by mitten

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

restlessnative — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 14:56:52 -0800

The reason to protect the Giant Pacific Octopus (GPO) population at Seacreast Park is because if they are not hunted there they available for non-consumptive use by thousands of divers annually. Seacreast Park is a place that is safe for divers of nearly all abilities, can be dived regardless of the tides/currents, and in nearly any weather. This makes it unique among Central Puget Sound dive sites. The other places one can see GPO's in the area are subject to strong currents, inclimate weather, and require specialized skills. I've personally felt comfortable taking people I have't dived with before, including a gentleman from the Azores, there to see a GPO. Furthermore there is a significant history of industrial pollution in the Duwamish River and Elliott Bay so I'm fairly certain that any resident seafood isn't safe to eat, the Health Dept. concurres.

It sounds like the WDFW hasn't examined the octopus fishing regulations in decades, asking them to consider the issue isn't too radical. There are a handful of other sites in the sound that have accessible GPO populations frequently visited by divers that we could consider protecting. Perhaps the bag limit should be reduced from one a day in parts of Puget Sound so a small group can't clean out a local GPO population. I don't think this is a radical agenda.

I'm all for saving the PNW Tree Octopus too but I'm a bit concerned about meeting Bearsharktapus. I think that small octopus/pulpo/tako are pretty tasty but I can't imagine trying to chew on a 80lb GPO from a Superfund site. Please sign the petition so that everybody can enjoy Seattle's resident GPO population, the sound is full of more appropriate places to harvest a GPO that hasn't spent its life bio-accumulating toxins.
Posted by restlessnative

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

leviathan — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 14:04:56 -0800

On the one hand, the location does sound a bit unsporting. However the guy did say he hunted the octopus by physically wrestling it to the shore, all the while it tried it's best to drown him. That's gotta count for something, right?
Posted by leviathan

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

Max Solomon — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 13:22:21 -0800

@12: i think it's a combination: the specific octopus they took was well-known in the dive community, and that they took it from a place, the most popular dive site in the city, where octopus have no fear of humans. hence the "petting zoo" analogy.

you really, really don't need to hunt GPOs - it's got to be like eating mutton. go squidding or something.
Posted by Max Solomon

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:25:00 -0800

Protect the cephalopods from us? Laughable. As laughable as daring to hope there is anything to save us from them.

When the dread octopus and related horrors lumber slobberingly into sight and gropingly squeeze their gelatinous green immensity through the black doorway into the tainted outside air of our poison city of madness, then then! you'll see the vanity in all this. You'll see. You'll know.

Ai! Ai!
Posted by Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

Fifty-Two-Eighty — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:12:25 -0800

I've never seen anyone answer this question, so what the hell, I'll ask. Are these things actually endangered or something, or is this just somebody's weird-assed harangue against killing animals? Because, if they're not endangered, most people (except for you fringe nutjobs) really aren't going to have much of a problem with this.

(And no, I don't support killing females while they're on eggs, but that doesn't appear to be what happened here.)
Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

TVDinner — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:58:44 -0800

@10: I think you fail every time you post something.
Posted by TVDinner

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

Will in Seattle — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:39:00 -0800

Decimate means killing every tenth one.

I think you failed Latin.

Besides, nobody cares about Sasquatch anymore, and they're way more endangered.
Posted by Will in Seattle

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

Cienna Madrid — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:38:05 -0800

@8, you're right--the Puget Sound line came from an interview I did last week but it's not in the petition. I'll update the post.
Posted by Cienna Madrid

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

gloomy gus — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:24:18 -0800

It doesn't urge harvesting be outlawed in Puget Sound as a whole, just the bit around the diver's park. It's dumb the petitioners are tossing in the notion GPOs deserve protection as if they were endangered species such as orcas. Makes them look ignorant.
Posted by gloomy gus

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

meanie — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:17:54 -0800

I get the complaint made by some that taking a octo from this area was like hunting at the petting zoo, and I agree with it. However this issue is quickly becoming a call to arms for peta/vegan types who generally abhor hunting and eating of animals in general.

Remember kids, your delicious local tako sashimi comes from somewhere.
Posted by meanie

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

treacle — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:13:51 -0800

I'm all for preserving the Pacific Giant Octopus, especially during their egg-tending season (although why we humans have an abiding fondness for predators like octopi and cats, I'll have to ruminate upon later) ... but what about saving the highly endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus?
Share the love, at least a little.
Posted by treacle

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

jBee — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:01:49 -0800

Oh wait... already fixed. The less you know, I guess.
Posted by jBee

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

jBee — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:01:08 -0800

you wouldn't think it, but the plural of "octopus" is "octopuses" or ("octopodes"). "Octopus" is from the Greek and -us -> -i pluralization is from the Latin.

**The more you know**
Posted by jBee

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

Cienna Madrid — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 10:58:31 -0800

@2, fixed, thanks.
Posted by Cienna Madrid

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

octopusesplease — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 10:53:11 -0800

Octopuses.
Posted by octopusesplease

Re: Thousands Sign Petition to Preserve Pacific Giant Octopuses

venomlash — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 10:51:45 -0800

"decimate" >_<
Posted by venomlash