A representative of the hobby, reporting it, puts the blame on the individual, and away from our hobby in general. If the only complaints come from the other beach goers, who are nice enough to leave stuff for us, it kind of looks like filling holes in the sand is optional. Pretty sure the would rather confront one offender, and tell them to fill their holes, than take on the entire hobby, and have to confront everyone who steps on the beach with a metal detector.
A lot of open holes on the beach, is a safety hazard, and distracts people from enjoying the beach. It's a problem that will eventually need to be corrected, before people get hurt. We are all part of the same community. It's not metal detectors against the rest of the population. It's on individual creating the problem, not the entire hobby.
Consider that the police can't stop a crime, or catch a criminal, unless the crime get reported. Sure, they get lucky sometimes, being at the right place, right time, but for the most part, they need the crime reported, they need witness to step up, and help out as well. People who rob and burglarize, will keep doing it, until they get caught. Just because you, your family, your neighbors, your friends weren't the victims today, doesn't make it alright to ignore the problem, to not get involved it you see it happening, or saw it happen to someone else. They aren't going to keep robbing the same individual, over and over...
Metal detecting isn't a crime (in most areas), and I'd kind of like to keep it that way. If we are willing to take responsibility for ourselves, and for others, we can all get along just fine. Those that choose to be irresponsible, need to be corrected, before they do some real damage.
I will either handle situations like that personally , or let them possibly go on thinking its a kid or someone searching for clams instead of informing them that some people with metal detectors are causing a problem.
