What does it take to get people enraged about eating animals? Usually the animal has to be cute, and although that doesn’t usually apply to cephalopods, a bunch of people seem to be upset about one particular Pacific Octopus.
Dylan Mayer was looking to help out a friend when he dove into the Puget Sound and came up with a live Pacific Octopus. He was taking it home to eat for dinner, but his fellow divers were not happy about the situation. As an unvegan, I support hunting for eating purposes and fail to see how this was any different than any other hunting. No one would have been upset if he had come up with a fish instead of an octopus. And while an octopus is more important to the ecosystem than your average fish, it’s not like the things are being over hunted.
So, Dylan Mayer, while much of the public has been flaying you for exercising your right to catch and eat octopus, we support your decision and think you deserve to be an Unvegan Hero for catching your dinner in a most unusual way.
(via Daily Mail)
I will proudly take my Unvegan Hero Medal of honor!
Thanks, for supporting me!
Dylan
I completely agree with the opinions stated here. However, two key points were excluded which alter the situation somewhat. 1) the octopus was removed from a popular dive site and 2) the diver who removed it was a teenager.
To the first point, seeing an octopus on a dive is something that most Northwest divers seek to do. I consider our sport to be much like bird watching in that way. We’re always looking to find the rarer and more unusual creatures. The giant pacific octopus (GPO) is definitely that. A lot of us enjoy seeing and taking pictures when this happens. If hunting in city parks was legal, you still wouldn’t want to see it, would you? If you and your family were enjoying a picnic in the park and possibly taking pictures of a family of ducks would you want to see somebody shoot that duck that you were just enjoying earlier? Sure, they’re within their rights, but it’s bad form.
To the second point, everybody… Leave Dylan alone. Was it the best idea? No. But let’s give him a pass on making a bad decision. Who among us didn’t make a few questionable choices when we were his age?
I like that this has opened a dialog on the topic of harvesting from dive sites. Ultimately, I think a ban on harvesting from dive sites is in the best interest of the sport of diving. Over 99% of the Sound will be unaffected by the proposed ban. I don’t a few small areas free of harvesting is a bad thing for those that want to enjoy nature.
Bon appétit!