Man charged after bathing in home of Banff's endangered snail

[troutman]

http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-...dangered-snail

A man is facing up to $75,000 in fines and a year in jail after he was caught in the thermal pool at the Cave and Basin National Historic Site — home to the endangered Banff Springs Snail.

Around 2 p.m. on Nov. 26, Parks Canada staff reported that a man was bathing in the cave’s pool in Banff National Park.

“Park wardens responded and arrested the suspect, who was subsequently charged with entering a closed area under the national parks general regulations and Species At Risk Act,” Mark Merchant, spokesman for Banff National Park, said Wednesday in an emailed statement. “Bathing in the thermal pools damages the snails’ ecosystem.”

The Banff Springs Snail was first discovered in 1926, but it wasn’t studied until 70 years later, in 1996. A year later, it made history as the first mollusk to be designated as threatened.

[undercoverbrother]

What a phallushead

[calgarygeologist]

Probably some sort of dirty, self-righteous hipster.

[GP_Matt]

Assuming it is somewhat well signed then the guy is a jerk.
I feel for him though if he was just out for a hike and decided to wade in without knowing it was restricted access.

I did something similar a long time ago when we used an old guidebook and went kayaking in a river that was made off limits due to a protected species that wasn't protected at the time of printing. There was no signage, even in the parking lot that we used for the put in.

[octothorp]

I hope this doesn't cause Parks Canada to put a fence up around the pool or something. It's pretty cool to be able to look at them so close up, and I'd be really pissed off if this idiot ruined it for the rest of us.

Edit: To Matt's question. Yes, this is very, very well-signed about staying out of the pools, snail sensitivity, etc. Both times we've been there, we were even told the rules when we paid our admission. Given the amount of international tourism in Banff, I can't help thinking language may have been a factor.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

I feel for him though if he was just out for a hike and decided to wade in without knowing it was restricted access.

http://www.bowvalleynaturalists.org/...34/page34.html




Only an idiot wouldn't know or see the signage.

We were there this past summer it is very obvious that you can't go for a dip.

[GP_Matt]

Based on the signage, I agree that he is a tool and should be fined/charged.

[troutman]

FYI:

In Law School, S.N.A.I.L.s were Students Not Actually In Law School.

[Brewmaster]

I understand why it's illegal, but the potential punishment is way over the top. Do we really need to ruin a guy's life because he went for a dip in the hot spring?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Brewmaster

I understand why it's illegal, but the potential punishment is way over the top. Do we really need to ruin a guy's life because he went for a dip in the hot spring?

In this case, yes.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Only an idiot wouldn't know or see the signage.

I understand the need for the images as you have people from all over the world visiting, however adding the wording "Water contact prohibited- endangered species inhabit these waters" in both French and English would clarify it a little bit.

Or am I the only person who has taken a "pool closed" sign to be merely a suggestion in their younger years?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I understand the need for the images as you have people from all over the world visiting, however adding the wording "Water contact prohibited- endangered species inhabit these waters" in both French and English would clarify it a little bit.

You mean like this:






The signage is everywhere and obvious.

Or am I the only person who has taken a "pool closed" sign to be merely a suggestion in their younger years

I to went swimming in the middle of the night in the outdoor pool up in Bankview, but I know you know this is comparable.


I will say I am not sure if the crime punishment fits the crime, but I don't know how the habitat will be affected, and maybe neither does Parks Canada and that is why it is such a large punishment.

[Barbecue]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I understand the need for the images as you have people from all over the world visiting, however adding the wording "Water contact prohibited- endangered species inhabit these waters" in both French and English would clarify it a little bit.

Or am I the only person who has taken a "pool closed" sign to be merely a suggestion in their younger years?

From what i remember visiting the site a couple years ago, there were signs that said endangered species occupied those pools. In fact, I think that pool holds the only snails left in its existence

is it over the top? heck no
$75,000 is appropriate for potentionally driving the species into extinction.
it also serves as a warning to other hippies who might try the same thing

[Harry Lime]

Back in my Grandma's day, there was a pool carved out of the natural rock on the outside of the Cave, by the teahouse, that you could lounge in. It was closed up decades ago. The actual swimming pool, where I used to swim as a kid when I visited, was filled with concrete when they updated the site and added the extra fees. It still makes me a little mad that the most scenic outdoor pool in the world in inaccessible.

To bathe in any pool at the Cave and Basin is clearly an act of civil disobedience and planned hooliganism. He didn't jump in as a drunken gag. He was bathing. That's all kinds of messed up. Go People's Republic on him and charge his family for the bullet.

[ken0042]

Yes, something like that 2nd sign.

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I know you know this is comparable.

I know the seriousness, but others may not. The sign shown earlier does not convey that. Considering the amount of money they spent to build a boardwalk leading the entire way up to the weather station at the top of Sulfur Mountain, I'd think a couple of hundred on a sign to better protect an endangered species would be a gimme.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Yes, something like that 2nd sign.

I know the seriousness, but others may not. The sign shown earlier does not convey that. Considering the amount of money they spent to build a boardwalk leading the entire way up to the weather station at the top of Sulfur Mountain, I'd think a couple of hundred on a sign to better protect an endangered species would be a gimme.

There is plenty of information on the walls and presentations to allow you to understand why you can't have a swim.

IIRC (and I might not) but there might be a head phone guided tour type thing, but that memory is hazy.

In short, there is plenty of signage, and informationa availible to visitors to educate them enough so they know not to have a dip.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

There is plenty of information on the walls and presentations to allow you to understand why you can't have a swim.

IIRC (and I might not) but there might be a head phone guided tour type thing, but that memory is hazy.

In short, there is plenty of signage, and informationa availible to visitors to educate them enough so they know not to have a dip.

It has been about a year and a half since I was there last and you are correct that the walls are lined with signs and poster boards on the walk to the pool. IIRC there are at least two large poster boards at the pool talking about the significance. I don't believe that lack of signage is an issue here.

[cDnStealth]

Wait. Why are you guys calling this person a hippy? What kind of hippy would potentially kill off a species? Isn't caring for mother nature sort of a defining trait of hippies?

[vanisleflamesfan]

Originally Posted by cDnStealth

Wait. Why are you guys calling this person a hippy? What kind of hippy would potentially kill off a species? Isn't caring for mother nature sort of a defining trait of hippies?

Exactly. I think it's far more likely to be a clueless tourist or some jacked-up-truck driving, climate-change denying oil worker.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by vanisleflamesfan

Exactly. I think it's far more likely to be a clueless tourist or some jacked-up-truck driving, climate-change denying oil worker.

Nah the later wouldn't have any interest in bathing in some stupid hot spring, he'd be bathing in a pool of baby seal blood then using a towel made of money to dry himself up.

This case was more likely some dirty smelly hippy trying to commute with nature man.