Shark tourism

Species commonly seen in shark tourism activities include:

• Great white sharks - mainly surface viewing in cages[1]
• Tiger, bull, oceanic whitetip, and other less aggressive (but potentially dangerous) sharks - in the pelagic zone
• Sand tiger sharks, which tend to congregate on certain reefs and wrecks at specific times of the year
• Basking and whale sharks - harmless plankton feeders

Great white shark at Isla Guadalupe, Mexico, August 2006. Shot with Nikon D70s in Ikelite housing, in natural light. Animal estimated at 11-12 feet (3.3 to 3.6 m) in length, age unknown

Great white shark viewing is available at the Neptune Islands in South Australia,[2] South Africa, Isla Guadalupe in Mexico, and New Zealand. Great white sharks are usually viewed using shark cages to protect the diver. Because of the exceptional visibility underwater in Isla Guadalupe, more outside the cage diving is done than anywhere else.[3]

The great white shark viewing industry was founded in the 1970s by pioneer Australian diver and great white attack survivor Rodney Fox in South Australia. He was the sole world-wide operator until the South African industry was founded in early 1989 by Pieter van der Walt who was joined shortly thereafter by pioneer diver and underwater photographer George Askew who handled promotions and put South African cage diving "on the map" with the publicity he got - until they split in January 1992, after they, together with famous Australian divers, Ron and Valerie Taylor, did the world's first dive amongst great white sharks without a cage and completely unprotected.[4]

This dive was directly responsible for the upsurge in shark tourism – especially free-diving (i.e. out of cage) swimming with big sharks. When operators around the world became aware that the great white was quite approachable and not likely to attack they considered whether the other sharks with bad reputations like tigers, bulls and oceanic's might be safe enough to swim with too. This proved to be the case and shark tourism has become a multi-million-dollar a year industry.[5] In attempts to protect the great white shark species, in some places such as South Australia, there is mandatory logbook reporting and photograph/identification required to monitor how cage-diving tourism may impact white sharks involved in these tourism interactions.[6]

The Bahamas is a favorite region for pelagic sharks. Divers in the Bahamas experience reef sharks and tiger sharks while they are hand-fed. Isla Guadalupe, Mexico has been named a Biosphere Reserve in an effort to control the shark diving activities there. Although the practice of shark diving proves to be controversial, it has been proven very effective in attracting tourists. Whale sharks, while not traditionally harvested for their fins but are sometimes harvested for their meat, have also benefited from shark tourism because of snorkelers getting into the water with the gentle giants. In the Philippines snorkelers must maintain a distance of four feet from the sharks and there is a fine and possible jail time for anyone who touches the animals.[7]

Several shark species are known from shark feeding dive sites within the Pacific Region. Grey reef sharks are the main feeders in places such as the Great Barrier Reef, Micronesia and Tahiti. Silvertips and black tip reef sharks tend to be more seen around the Papua New Guinea coastlines. Bull sharks are found around Mexico, Playa del Carmen in particular.[8]

Whale sharks attract a large amount of tourists each year to South Ari Atoll in the Republic of Maldives, yet, there is still some ambiguity regarding the economic extent of the attraction of these animals. Thus, making conservation/ implementation of management methods difficult to conduct.[9]

Additionally, whale sharks in the waters of the small town of Oslob, on Cebu islands in the Philippines, The sharks have become a top tourist attraction, local governments in the Philippines have followed along in the legalization of feeding these animals in attempt to attract more tourists. Although a huge commercial success, there is growing concern for the implementation of regulation and protection for the whale sharks and its marine environment.[10]

The coral reefs in the Philippines are being harmed greatly by the overpopulation of sharks and people in the area. As the population increases immensely so does the opportunity for the coral reefs to diminish. Sharks are overpopulating because they are being fed by tour operators and it is attracting many more sharks to the area than there naturally would be. This is causing the sharks to be more aggressive with people because they are getting too comfortable with people because they are associating feeding time with the people that are tossing the food to them.

Free diving

This type of shark tourism is done by professionals who dive down with the individuals that are partaking in the tourism event. A diver takes a small group of people down approximately 40 meters deep where the shark actions takes place. Often sharks do not pay much attention to the divers, but in rare cases when there are threatening times the operator uses his/her training skills to prevent an attack from occurring.

Passive and active forms of shark tourism are believed to conserve the species by generating commercial value to their lives in the natural world. In North Carolina wreck divers regularly visit the World War II shipwrecks to dive with the sand tiger sharks that make the wrecks their home.[18] The shark tourism industry conducted a search, using a global questionnaire; detecting that 42% of operators conducting shark tourism used an attractant to lure sharks, and that 93% of operators surveyed regulated their practices using codes of conduct.[19]

Business related to shark tourism

Shark tourism opened up a beneficial economic opportunity all over the globe. This helps the poverty stricken areas of the Bahamas, Moorea, Maldives, Australia and many more places around the globe. The only things needed for shark tourism to take place is sharks, which are found almost everywhere in the oceans encompassing the world. Shark tourism is positively impacting the lives of many, as conductors are making good money to take the people down into the water to view the sharks and the people are paying big money to do just this. Tourism providers often provide food to attract sharks to areas where they can be more easily viewed, although this is controversial.[20] In Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the states of Hawaii and Florida shark feeding is prohibited.[21] Hawaii had several issues with the banning of shark feeding. The initial law that prohibited it was passed in 2002, but many locals realized the tour companies were not following this law and pushed for stricter enforcement.[22]

A sign at Pyramid Rock Beach in Hawaii warning about a shark sighting, 2015

Sharks, or "mano" as they are called by the local Hawaiians, are viewed as sacred. Early Hawaiians worshiped and protected the sharks which they saw as family gods or "aumaka".[23] In recent years, shark cage diving has become a very profitable tourist attraction in the state. Native Hawaiians were not pleased with this at first due to the fact that the companies were luring in the sharks using bait; they viewed these animals as sacred and feeding them for entertainment was said to be unjust.[24] There was also speculations that by feeding them, the sharks would begin to associate the boats and humans with food. For this reason, a bill was passed in Hawaii in 2002 that banned the feeding of sharks in state waters, which is about three miles off shore.[25]

Beqa Lagoon is home to eight species of sharks, each of which are very prominent around feeding sites. Shark diving and shark feeding is very popular in the area, locals have been swimming with the sharks for close to three thousand years. The local people have many myths about these creatures passed down from antiquity. They are easily spotted in the waters of Beqa Lagoon Resort, which is their primary feeding ground. Shark tourism in places such as this is very profitable in Fiji, generating around US$42 million. [26]

Palau is home to three species of sharks; the grey reef shark, the leopard shark, and the whitetip reef sharks. Palau's waters have many coral reefs, which are home to grey reef sharks, the most commonly seen of the three. Whitetip reef sharks are also seen around coral reefs, and are much more curious than the other sharks. Many tourists and locals are fascinated by these creatures, so that shark diving has become a big part of many tourists incentive to go to Palau. Studies have shown that shark diving and shark tourism in general is a major contributor to the economy of Palau. Over US$18 million is generated every year, which accounts for close to 10% of all domestic product in the country. The local communities and government benefit, receiving over $1 million and US$1.5 million respectively.

Many people are involved in interest groups such as the late iDive Sharks Network[27] that aim to celebrate and promote safe and responsible shark diving activities.[28]

• Scuba divers swim among the sharks, Fayetteville Observer
• Sand tigers video