Illegal kayaking...say it ain't so!

[Evenstar]

The amount of kayak bashing on this forum continues to amaze me. This is supposed to be a place for all boaters - yet the powerboat owners seem to think that there’s nothing wrong with constantly putting down paddlers here. No wonder that I’m only one of the few paddlers who is brave enough to post here. And I get jumped on every time that I stand up for paddlers. And please don’t try to tell me that this is just a joke – because I’m not laughing at your insults. This is nothing more than prejudice - and it is wrong.

This thread was started by making an accusation that is based solely on a poor quality photo and on the opinion of the photographer that the kayaker’s action was “senseless encroachment of an endangered species.” First of all, we don’t know why the kayaker was there, so there's no proof that it was "senseless". For all we know, he may have been there to help the loon. What ever happened to “innocent until proven guilty?” Secondly, loons are not an endangered species (http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wild...gered_list.htm).

And, before you guys that are suggesting that we should ban anything that posses a threat to loons, you really should understand where the main threats come from – because you’re actually advocating banning yourselves.

From The Loon Conservation Committee http://www.loon.org/research.html#causes

“Results of our mortality studies have shown that lead sinkers and jigs are the primary cause of death of adult loons, while boat and personal watercraft collisions account for more chick deaths than any other cause.”

“Loss of breeding habitat as a result of shoreline development is one of the main causes of the reduction in loon numbers throughout New Hampshire.”