The Beat goes on!

[Jayd]

[i don't know what room to post this, it concerns all parrots?]

 

The Beat goes on..

 

Mid 90's. somewhere off the southern most coast of California, hopefully international waters, dark calm sea, aboard a 35 foot "Cattle boat", ha, commercial fishing boat, off night, a few volunteers along with the skipper had plans to intercept a coastal freighter from a land far south of here. We new she was carrying illegal parrots!

 

So, 1990's everyone in the business new the new import law would take effect soon, mad rush began between the legal and illegal importers of wild parrots. Most ligget people decider to become breeders. Bird farms started dotting the maps. At that time, we were paid twenty dollars a day to hand feed baby parrots of all kinds and sizes, that's 80 to 100 baby's a day.[Galvage fed] The breeders at least had control of who legally got the parrots.

 

Grey's weren't to popular on the west coast at that time, the east coast took care of them, but boy did we have Amazons and every other kind of parrots there was! A lot of the coastal bird farms had little sections set aside for any recovering of illegal trade that was rescued. They would care for them and integrate them in to the normal flocks to insure they'd get a good home. Illegal? yea, but a far better fate then the one they were headed for.

 

Lights out, the freighter was in view, most coastal sailed with there nets over the side's, parrots weren't there only traffic. In the last month we rescued parrots from two coastal, this was our last for this month. If caught, we'd get our hands slaped, it was worth it.

 

So far so good, lights, what's going on??? O NO, THERE THROWING THE CRATES OVER THE SIDE!!, take the boat around starboard, get the crates out of the water! Move it!!!!!

 

We recovered about half the crates, what a loss, we signaled ahead, the Coast Guard was waiting , they won't be sailing for a while, but there's so many to replace them.

 

2010, The Beat goes on!

Edited June 28, 2010 by Jayd

[Jayd]

Point of Interest: If you look on some maps, you can see whats called "Shipping Lanes". On a map, find the Calif/Mexico border, go West, and a little south into Mexican waters.....

[pearllyn]

It's just too sad that stuff like this happens. There's no way I could be involved in rescues like this - I would fall apart, so I donate what I can to various charities instead. Thank goodness there are people like you who are strong enough to do what you do. Will there ever come a time when scenarios like this don't happen do you think?

[Spock]

Will there ever come a time when scenarios like this don't happen do you think?

Our feelings are that until there is a change in the world monetary system, nothing will change, and even then there will be greed! Some troubled teenagers we used to work with, we'd show them 2 movies, 1 had a young person who had a fair job, a decent life, the second movie showed the same young man who used illegal means to support himself and the consequences. In sadness, some replied, "but movie 2 is more fun! Thanks, Maggie and Jayd

Edited June 29, 2010 by Spock

[Lambert58]

I'd have a hard time staying out of jail if I witnessed that. In fact, I think the jail time would be worth it.