I went to the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History; a great education on conservation of the lands and wildlife. It was so peaceful out on the observation deck as my friends and I watched all the migrating birds. We spotted a boat with three men in camouflage out in the estuary. We asked and were told they were hunters. We were horrified. They were so close, and in what I thought was a protected area. As we were leaving, we heard a loud pop and then several more, and worst of all, screaming birds. The sound was deafening! I looked down on the shore where there was a class of young schoolchildren. Their heads were all turned toward the gunshots … nice lesson, huh?
Help me out here, anyone: Why would hunters be in this sanctuary, and so close to human population? Are we alone in thinking this isn’t right, totally senseless, and out of place? I count on nature to calm the uneasiness of world problems, only to be saddened by yet another inhuman act literally slapping me in the face.
Karen Lyga
Oceano
This article appears in Dec 16-23, 2004.