[Coral-List] Endangered species status will be considered for 82 corals

[Eugene Shinn]

Coral-Listers, Be careful what you wish for and beware of, "The Law 
of unintended consequences."  At stake is the listing of 82 species 
of corals which is the first step toward making all Atlantic  coral 
reefs off limits to divers and researchers (except for an elite few). 
Imagine the increased paperwork ect., that will be required to obtain 
a permit to study any of these corals or a reef where they live. If 
passed the next step will  be designation of critical habitats to 
protect these species----from what? and how? Every scuba diver 
bubbles Co2 into the water, (exhaled breath contains up to 40,000 ppm 
Co2).Down the road we may have to stop scuba diving or mandate the 
use of rebreathers. The Co2 battle is being fought vigorously on many 
other fronts  so why use corals as pawns to create a new tangle of 
government regulations and bureaucrats? What is really behind this? 
Job creation? More coral police? The only winners I see will be the 
lawyers! I think that this time The Center for Biodiversity has gone 
over the top and is more obstructionist than I ever thought they 
would be. I wonder who supports them? How do they get their funding? 
Now that's something to ponder! Lets be reasonable!  This action is 
not going to save  corals. Just look to the geologic record. The 
grandest reefs the world has ever known grew during the Cretaceous 
when Co2 levels were more than 7 times present levels. To and Earth 
scientist this action appears to be just one more issue for people to 
disagree on in a country already so politically divided on most any 
subject one can think of. No this is not Glen Beck speaking... Gene
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No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
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E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
Marine Science Center (room 204)
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eshinn at marine.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- 
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