Just has a nice little SUP at my local - mum and some baby dolphins cruisin around, a seal just floating in the shore break glorious winter sunshine nice glassy right handers on the reef.

As i'm heading to the beach I thought I saw a kid throwing rocks at the seal from a small cliff - just missing him - I think OK the parents will stop him.

Bugger me if the whole friggin family pick up handfuls of rocks and start lobbing them all around the seal.

I went off me nut at them and then they hurl abuse back saying it wouldnt hurt them

I spoke with a few others on the beach but not sure if they tuned them as well.

**** there are some moron bogans in this world,

Great parenting - I must say I was so angry - not a good way to end such a great little surf

Sorry crew but I had to vent that - I feel better now and I cannot believe people would be so stupid

lucky they didn't start throwing rocks at you aswel!

Revhead said...

well done for having a go at the low-life family!

+1

what can you say? some people are just downright stoopid. then they pass their stupidity down the family tree. Awesome.

Pretty brave having a crack at the bogans. especially ones armed with rocks.

still i guess you could have used your paddle as a deflecting device of sorts.

ikw777 said...

Revhead said...

well done for having a go at the low-life family!

+1

+2

Speaking of morons, it reminds me of finishing our SUP Downwinder in Geelong the other week... A guy in the back seat hurls the best part of a half Maccas Meal, food, contents, wrappers, etc... hurls it out the window... I'm parked next to him at the lights, and I say "go back and pick up your rubbish you pigs"... Turns out it was one angry "Islander Looking Dude"... I was happy the lights turned green and chick driver drove off.... Otherwise either my ass or my car was going to get "fried" !!

At my job we believe that 8 to 10% of the population will do the wrong thing at every opportunity.
Sounds like you met some 8percenters.
They've kept me in work for 26 years now.

We've got a great cluster of ocean wildlife visit our local boat ramp daily. Seals, eagle rays, stingers etc. About the only place outside of Melb Aquarium (4 hrs away) where you can stand within a metre of these beautiful creatures.

I was cleaning my catch a couple of years ago and watched in disbelief as a dad & his (about) 12yo son tried to drag a lure across the flaps of a 2m wide black ray. I told them to "give it a rest & take off" as "they are pretty-much tame and the locals & touros enjoy watching them up close". The dad then told me that they were fair game and he was going shark fishing and will use it for bait!!! (a 2m ray, prob use less than 1% of it for bait) So they continued as I called 13FISH, about 2mins later I watched as they hooked it & it took off, running under & around the nearby marina & eventually snapping it off...as you said - moron bogans!

should have chucked rocks at the family.

russh said...

Just has a nice little SUP at my local - mum and some baby dolphins cruisin around, a seal just floating in the shore break glorious winter sunshine nice glassy right handers on the reef.

As i'm heading to the beach I thought I saw a kid throwing rocks at the seal from a small cliff - just missing him - I think OK the parents will stop him.

Bugger me if the whole friggin family pick up handfuls of rocks and start lobbing them all around the seal.

I went off me nut at them and then they hurl abuse back saying it wouldnt hurt them

I spoke with a few others on the beach but not sure if they tuned them as well.

**** there are some moron bogans in this world,

Great parenting - I must say I was so angry - not a good way to end such a great little surf

Sorry crew but I had to vent that - I feel better now and I cannot believe people would be so stupid

Why didn't you throw rocks at the bogans?

Similar thing over here on saturday Two seals on the beach just resting up I guess
A local told me they are becoming more regular visitors and making a bit of a comeback after being nearly wiped out a century or so ago for their fur
He also told me that he is forever chasing off people who want to poke them with sticks and wont call their dogs off from annoying them

doggie said...



Thats very sad

There is a massive ray over at Rotto, I have seen it heaps of times when fishing there over the years and Im sure its the same one. Ive also snorkeled with some eagle rays of Transits, there would have been 5-6 of them and a little dog shark. Why anyone would want to hurt these amazing creatures is beyond me

NO idea, but aren't all creatures amazing?.. I can see a contradiction between not wanting to hurt a Stingray, and getting enjoyment out of killing a Fox.. They are both highly intelligent creatures and need to kill for food..

Also whats the difference between Fish, and say, a bald chin Grouper and Stingrays? Fish are arguably just as charming.. Not that I wouldn't eat them both if I was starving!..

Although not a Baldy, this Black spotted Tusk fish is an example of a fish using tools to open clams, you can see earlier meals scattered on the floor. Awesome.. Why would anyone want to hurt this amazing creature??

barn said...

I can see a contradiction between not wanting to hurt a Stingray, and getting enjoyment out of killing a Fox.. They are both highly intelligent creatures and need to kill for food..

[geez Barn, you & your foxes again!]

I think the difference is that we 'shouldn't' kill or injure any animal for no reason. There are many reasons for killing a fox close to your property when lambing, and to keep the numbers down. Foxes are predators that have a direct affect on human environment...stingrays don't. I also don't have an issue with someone catching & killing a stingray for food (tried it once - didn't enjoy it).

The issue here is animal cruelty & betrayal of trust, Most stories above are about animals that have come to trust humans enough to get within arm's reach. If a fox wandered into town casually and came close to us, I wouldn't kill it. Probably hypocritical, but many things we do are...that's human nature.

doggie said...

Jeez barn you are like a woman, keep bringing things up that happened months ago. Go windsurfing for fk sake!!

Nah it was a genuine question, and the fox was just a relevant example.. No need to get cranky..

They question was why would people want to hurt amazing animals like stingrays et al. When the answer appears to be that some people just don't see animals as anything except entertainment..

Ignore the fox example, what about the Grouper? Fish are being over fished, and there is really no difference between a Grouper and a Stingray*.. Anybody who swims with reef fish knows they can be just as curious and charming as stingrays.. Some don't know why people would want to pull a fish from the depths with a metal hook thru its face..

So what I was asking is whats the difference between killing a grouper, or one of these Rays? Why protect one and hunt the other?

(*Difference from an 'amazing creature' scale.. But in fact, we are more closely related to Groupers than Groupers are related to Rays, so they are completely different types of animal)

That sh!t about the seals and the sting-rays just makes me****** angry. Lets just hope these narrow minded f#cks don't have any pets of their own...

Nothing better than a nice freshly caught slab of baldchin but! mmmmmmm

Woodo said...

That sh!t about the seals and the sting-rays just makes me****** angry. Lets just hope these narrow minded f#cks don't have any pets of their own...

Nothing better than a nice freshly caught slab of baldchin but! mmmmmmm

haha yeah that sums it up, I too love a slab of bald chin, I lived off them and wobby steaks for 6 months once (bycatch).. But I can't help but think future generations will look upon us as

narrow minded f#cks

for killing all the fish. As it is entirely possible that we will fish the oceans bare within a few generations.

Attitudes towards animals have changed drastically in just the last 50 years.. Would the admirable attitudes that Russh displayed over people throwing rocks at a lazy seal have happened 50 years ago?. In a time when it was also acceptable to club seals and harpoon whales? Now we do neither, and frown upon those that do..

Attitudes towards animals have changed massively, does anybody pretend that they wont continue to change. (in the forwards direction of respect and preservation)

People throwing rocks at seals are just stuck about 50 years in the past, maybe catching Baldies for entertainment will be seen just as outdated in the near future.. Especially if they are extinct!

Just 50 years ago these were all killed indiscriminately. Now we avoid it, what other animals will be added to the list (all of them!)

Grey Nurse
great white
tiger shark
Wedgetail
crow
cassowary
Elephant seal
tas tiger
Dugong
Potato cod

barn said...

Woodo said...

That sh!t about the seals and the sting-rays just makes me****** angry. Lets just hope these narrow minded f#cks don't have any pets of their own...

Nothing better than a nice freshly caught slab of baldchin but! mmmmmmm

haha yeah that sums it up, I too love a slab of bald chin, I lived off them and wobby steaks for 6 months once (bycatch).. But I can't help but think future generations will look upon us as

narrow minded f#cks

for killing all the fish. As it is entirely possible that we will fish the oceans bare within a few generations.

Attitudes towards animals have changed drastically in just the last 50 years.. Would the admirable attitudes that Russh displayed over people throwing rocks at a lazy seal have happened 50 years ago?. In a time when it was also acceptable to club seals and harpoon whales? Now we do neither, and frown upon those that do..

Attitudes towards animals have changed massively, does anybody pretend that they wont continue to change. (in the forwards direction of respect and preservation)

People throwing rocks at seals are just stuck about 50 years in the past, maybe catching Baldies for entertainment will be seen just as outdated in the near future.. Especially if they are extinct!

Just 50 years ago these were all killed indiscriminately. Now we avoid it, what other animals will be added to the list (all of them!)

Grey Nurse
great white
tiger shark
Wedgetail
crow
cassowary
Elephant seal
tas tiger
Dugong
Potato cod

I dont think the crow is native.

From Wiki - Crows appear to have evolved in central Asia and radiated out into North America, Africa, Europe, and Australia.