This family of poachers was found at Abalone Cove on Sunday February 8, 2009. They are dressed as fishermen with high boots, fatigue pants, and hats to cover their faces. They were well prepared with equipment to scour the rocks and had several coolers to carry out the sea life that they captured. What they are doing here is trying to pry an octopus out from under his rock. They used a metal rake-like tool to do this and as you can see from the photo below, there were not being very careful about handling the animal.
They knew we were taking pictures of them and kept their faces turned away. We saw them put at least one octopus and one brittlestar into their cooler before leaving the cove. We called the guard at the gate, who called the California Fish and Game, but we suspect these poachers got away. They were followed out of the preserve, but were lost on the path up the cliff.
The sad thing is that they are teaching their young son criminal behavior, too.
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