Blog about "The World's best Shark Dive" by Beqa Adventure Divers.
Featuring up to eight regular species of Sharks and over 400 different species of fish, Shark diving doesn't get any better!
But, is it really true? Well, check out this website.
Interesting huh. To me, it's all déjà vu, very much on the lines of the present appalling climate change denialism. Seen it all before 30-40 years ago, see below.
Nah, don't worry, I'm not gonna double up. I've said what I wanted to say, and others have too. Thing is, whilst Amos keeps laughing all the way to the bank, it's quite obviously a total waste of our collective breath. The Guadalupe operators have had eight months to sort out the continued illegal actions of Amos and especially, the illegal operations of Club Cantamar - and what have they achieved: you guessed it, obviously a big fat nada de nada de nada de nada!
Incidentally, have a good look at the pic. The Shark is clearly munching on something - as in bait? Having seen one or two Sharks having a snack, it sure looks like it - and if so, would that not yet again be a breach of the unequivocal rules? So much for
Please explain to all your devoted readers the real value - ecological, environmental and research wise - in chumming recklessly and baiting for sharks to come close to your crowded cages - you guys are at best aggravating the shark and cause them to exhibit a behavior which is far from normality and or reality - these actions has no value what so ever but to drum business i.e. profit - in the process creating mostly wrong perception of this wildlife among the good hearted clients. This is purely entertainment not study and eduction of shark behavior
and
I apply exactly the opposite method of operation to the attract shark to the cage in comparison of the common one - the common action is attracting the shark by chumming and baiting...we do not bait and apply limited chumming. Our operation proof clearly that when there is no stimulus in the water i.e chumming - the shark act and behave peacefully and relax which is its normal being and totally different from the one around the cages when they are teased with chum and bait. While underwater swimming there is no aggression, or jaw gupping, sudden change in swimming direction and etc...
Did I hear out of context? If you can stomach another read:here's the context!
I'm not blaming the journo for publishing those statements. But the fact is that Shark Reef Marine Reserve was negotiated and established by myself (my 2003 project paper here - testimony here) and Manasa “Papa” Boulivou, period - with the cooperation and assistance of the villages, the then Minister of Fisheries Konisi Yabaki and his men under Aisake Batibasaga .
Certainly not by Aquatrek Beqa who were actually adamantly opposed to it; not by “me, Brandon Paige” who resigned from Aquatrek Beqa in 2002 and was then working on Taveuni; not even by Beqa Adventure Divers who however became the trustees of the reserve once it was established in 2004 and have been collecting the Marine Park Levy ever since.
By all means, don’t take my word for it: here are the relevant documents - click to enlarge.
The Fiji Shark Corridor comprising the Qoliqoli or fishing grounds of the villages of Galoa, Wainiyabia and Deuba and encompassing Shark Reef Marine Reserve and Lake Reef was established by Beqa Adventure Divers in 2007 and the three villages have since been compensated by us (only) for keeping it Shark Safe. Here are the relevant documents
q.e.d. - I rest my case. How pathetic having to post this! And yes, I wish I were a bigger man - maybe in another life!
I thought it would be bad when I ranted about it more than a year ago. The despicable descriptions ares still online and now WhySharksMatter has watched the Bull Shark episode of Animal Planet's River Monsters and blogged about it. Some excerpts are online, more than enough for understanding what he's talking about - including using a gaff to drag in that shark, just great! The heartless bimbo: this one! Looks like in terms of having reached an absolute low point in programming, we've got ourselves a winner: David is usually as mellow and level headed as they come and to see him this angry is truly remarkable.
Tragically, I fear it is.
It features this asshole and it also features stupid sound bites by Mr. No-PhD, the inevitable token expert, and then the heroic feats of "somebody" who believes that it's cool, no: EPIC!, to feed Sharks whilst wearing a baseball cap put on in reverse. Gee, talk about an EPIC! lineup! Oh and did I mention that the footage is from Tiger Beach? Galatians 6 : 7-9 indeed!
It's all so bad I that I'm really at a loss here.
Anyway, have a look at this shit.
Hat tip: Wolfgang (but I frankly dunno if I should thank you for this buddy).
PS good reaction by the smart people over at Underwater Thrillshere.
Apparently, a majority of the population concurs, the more as the Sharks are considered a pest that devours fish, squid, seals and other marine life, and it also ruins the lines and nets of the halibut fishermen, according to, unsurprisingly, the head of Greenland's hunting and fishing association. And then, I read this.
Aksel Blytmann, a consultant at Greenland's fishing and hunting association, says the shark could turn out to be an "unexpected energy source." He explained that Uummannaq once paid a 200-Danish-kroner (26-euro, 38-dollar) reward to fishermen for a shark heart in order to keep their numbers down. Other municipalities in the northwestern and western parts of Greenland still continue this practice, he said. The species "swarms in the Arctic waters and is not in danger of extinction," Blytmann claimed.
Right. It fatally reminds me of what they used to, and still do to wolves: to demonize them and then, to put a bounty on their head (or legs), allowing some trigger happy morons to go killing them in unethical, and possibly illegal ways.
Thing is, contrary to wolves where there may indeed be a need for controlling some populations, Greenland Sharks are listed as near threatened by the IUCN. The justification for it is that apart from having limited reproductive capacity like most Sharks, this is a deepwater species that grows extremely slowly and at an estimated 200 years, may well be one of the longest-living vertebrates (this is a fascinating link - read it!). Does anybody really believe that the Arctic Ocean has the carrying capacity for "swarms" of gigantic Sharks, or that evolution has selected for high fecundity in an animal that can live for centuries? Killing thousands of slow breeding apex predators is an ecological catastrophe that needs to be stopped, not exploited! Orange Roughy anybody?
Far from being visionary, or whatever, this so-called eco-venture is a plan from hell. If implemented, it will generate new demand for Greenland Sharks who will inevitably become one of the principal targets for the Greenland fishermen, rather than being mere bycatch like they are now. What really needs to happen is not to find ways of exploiting, and thus targeting them, but instead, to limit the baycatch by forcing the fishermen to adopt adequate protocols. No idea what those may be - but that's why we're paying fisheries biologists and donating hard earned $$$ to those NGOs - right?
Keep watching this space as this stupidity unfolds.
Amos never disappoints: he has broken his word and taken clients cageless - and some idiotic operator has once again succumbed to the temptation and aided and abetted this reckless stupidity.
This is a blatant violation of the regulations for Guadalupe issued by the Mexican authorities that once again endangers the future of commercial Shark diving in that location.
Will the other Shark diving operators finally man up, state an example and ensure that the enabler is put out of business? Will they tell Amos to take a hike? Or will they now attempt to one-up the other guy and partake in this latest debacle for the global Shark diving industry? Guys - this is the time to show some vision and some leadership!
Not having ever dived with them, I know very little about Great Whites. People in the know tell me that it is certainly possible to go cageless with them, and many of them have. They however also warn me that one must be extremely cautious and ever vigilant, as some individual Sharks come across as being dangerous and clearly convey the impression that they regard the divers as potential prey - something I have never observed when diving with the equally notorious Bulls and Tigers. Does anybody really believe that using a pokey stick if one of those animals ever commits to an outright attack is gonna work? Ever seen the raw power of a GW breaching after a seal?
With that in mind, offering cageless commercial dives with Great Whites is a fool's bet. If something happens - and let there never be a doubt that it will and it's going to be fatal: how, exactly, will the guilty operator justify deviating from what are the globally accepted practices of conducting commercial dives with this species?
This is Amos' own description of his "feat" (sic).
...after a week of diving with Great White sharks...contrary to public opinion, due to total misunderstanding, lack of knowledge and simply the public willing to believe anything on TV and in the Movies - these sharks were...acceptable of our present in their own domain and only curious in us swimming with them in open water...every breath we take and blow bobbles the shark was turning away...
We have achieved that level of extraordinary success due to the fact that we have used our intelligent rather that get carried away by common practices. We chummed the water to limited extend. I taken the time and introduce only one person at the time and I had a safety diver with us at all time...I had limited team of only seven divers and full five days on site...we were lucky also in having perfect calm and sunny seven days...
I have introduce seven guests to this amazing, second of this kind experience in the world - "the Everest of diving" and they are all elated as they got to experience their life dream more than once...my guests gained respect and admiration for the animal rather than fear.
They also now joint me and being the ambassadors of the BigAnimlas expressing their first hand experience rather than the dramatic, false portrait and sensational reportage on Discovery and other TV documentaries...the wilderness deserve positive and supportive news in order to increase awareness and protection for what ever left on our planet - what we have left is still fantastic and worth while saving...
...and more blah blah rah rah of that kind. Trust the man to start marketing his product whilst Still at the San Diego airport on my way home... !
The thing that pisses me off is that by sending around his pseudo-eco-conservation marketing spiel, he creates false expectations among the public. Now that the dam has been broken, the operators will be swamped by request from what are little more than foolish thrill seekers aiming to climb to the top of a stupid ranking of adrenaline rushes. This is not about loving Sharks, this is not about dispelling myths, this is not about creating awareness, this is not about Shark conservation, this is not even about capturing better images: this is only about satisfying one's ego and having something to brag about at home. The more as they will be able to unequivocally elevate themselves above the plebs by paying extra - whilst Amos is laughing all they way to the bank! This is not the Everest, it's the peak of stupidity!
Already, one blog out there has taken the bait hook-line-and-sinker, a fact that I find particularly irritating as the man is clearly no fool and on top of that, much loved and respected. What he just refuses to understand is that his emotional outbursts ultimately harm the animals he loves. Extreme encounters enhance the risk of accidents and any such event reinforces the determination and the arguments of the Shark haters. I know that having been at the center of precisely such a controversy, he's acutely aware of the risks - so why is he continuing to make those statements in public? Qui s'excuse, s'accuse - and I'll leave it at that!
Yes, those big Sharks don't generally perceive us as prey - but from everything I've ever experienced, they certainly do not reciprocate our love and do notlike being touched and even less, being abused as underwater scooters. Luckily for us, they seem to be quite tolerant - but not endlessly so! Yes I know, I'm repeating myself! In fact, the so deceivingly languid Tigers very much resent being disturbed when they're seeking for food and are well known for reacting violently against anybody interfering with that process. Sometimes, they will warn you by gaping - and sometimes, they just won't. Trust me, I've seen it with my own eyes, more than once - and be assured that you'll never see it coming, experience or no experience!
My friend, do whatever you do - and enjoy! But in the softest possible way: please, do it on the QT and stop talking about it! It is indefensible and may embarrass or even harm the operator concerned - and it only emboldens the other side and the copycats that lack the experience, the knowledge and ultimately, the love.
Enough said.
PS Patric has just posted his take on Underwater Thrills.
Discovery Channel seeks to bring the fear back into Shark Week in a promotional game created by Campfire, along with N.Y. and Stockholm-based interactive shop Your Majesty... Campfire Co-Founder/ECD Mike Monello says he and team returned to their horror roots in conceiving this game. "Discovery Channel had a great brief," he explains. "Shark Week is 22 years old, and a lot of people think of it as a known quantity. They wanted to tap into people's fear of Sharks and bring back the fear of Shark Week.
Just great isn't it. I found the above link on The Dorsal Fin, an interesting "Shark conservation-minded blog that will deal with Shark news and promotion of Shark conservation".
Now, why would I give a free-pass to Campfire for creating a horror-based entertainment vehicle, but then turn-around and call out Discovery Channel over it?
It’s simple, I expect more/better from Discovery Channel, because it is the worldwide leader in non-fiction programming. Discovery Channel is marketed as a learning/educational themed channel, while Campfire’s philosophy is quite a bit different. According to Discovery’s corporate site, “John Hendricks launched Discovery Channel in 1985 with a mission to satisfy curiosity and make a difference in people’s lives by providing the highest-quality, nonfiction content, services and products that entertain, engage and enlighten.”
Is creating an unnecessary sense of fear towards Sharks really “enlightening” the audience? People who watch programs on Discovery Channel do so under the assumption that they are watching an educational work of non-fiction. Focusing a marketing campaign around Sharks attacking humans for programming that is expected to be educational is just plain irresponsible and seems to go against their Corporate Social Responsibility statement, in my opinion.
While I won’t be see ignorant as to not understand the fascination of people with the predatory aspect of Sharks, I still do not understand why Discovery Channel feels the need to perpetuate fear rather than respect of this aspect of Sharks.
At the end of the day, I guess the marketing experts at the Discovery Channel concluded that tapping into fear could earn them more advertising dollars than educating viewers would. At the rate that worldwide shark populations are decreasing, I would think that Discovery Channel would see that their “cash cow” is at risk of running dry.
Perhaps, it might be a good idea to focus on conservation rather than fear. Apparently, that wasn’t in the marketing plan for Shark Week this year.
Easy question! The answer? You be the judge! Here's Fox News: Final Fin? and Predators in Danger. And here are Discovery's remarkable newest release, Frenzied Waters and its equally remarkable PR kit.
Still unconvinced? Maybe you should take the time to read this post on Deep-Sea News. Then, please sign the petition!
Quite frankly, I've been caught completely unawares and only found out about it when browsing Underwater Thrills during my morning coffee, as I do every day. I'm kinda between homes and countries so I'll have to keep this short.
This is important, but it is only one part of the equation - the other part being that as an Industry, we got to provide for alternatives by working with serious producers and cinematographers in order to come up with better programs.
And we the operators need to finally shoulder our responsibility and stop shooting ourselves in the foot, by agreeing that the Deadly Waters fiasco must be the last time where this kind of despicable rubbish has been allowed to happen on our watch. We are the stewards of our sites and without our consent and logistical support, nothing goes - and yes, I'm repeating myself!
Always remember - our customers have a choice and there are always alternatives!
So, let's start with the stick - but let's also work on the carrot!
Please sign the petition and tell your friends.
Like when I was copied on this letter. To his credit, Vice-Mayor Eliopoulos has already answered that he is concerned and will look into the matter.
Dear Vice-Mayor Eliopoulos, There is a very disturbing issue concerning Delray Beach which I would like to bring to your attention.
A local shark fishing club has been chumming and fishing for sharks right on our main beach in Delray, and is now aggressively promoting this activity and recruiting new members. While drinking and fishing may be legal and fun to them it is cruel to the animals and dangerous to Delray's citizens and tourists.This group claims to promote catch and release fishing, which may sound relatively harmless, but based on the discussions in their forum (as well as their recipe section) and the pictures on their website, this is not the case.
First of all they are chumming or using bait (sometimes smaller sharks that they've caught are used as bait for larger sharks) to lure the sharks close to shore. Once hooked the sharks are fighting for their lives and are landed exhausted from their survival attempts. After these fishermen have looked at the shark, high-fived everybody in sight and taken some pictures, they attempt to push, pull and roll the injured sharks back into the water.
Potential outcomes that we as Delray residents should be concerned about:
1. These fishermen are throwing chum -- fish heads and chopped up fish into the swimming area on Delray Beach. While snorkeling looking for shells on Sunday, one of us saw several large fish heads in three feet of water and chopped up fish pieces floating on the surface. A passerby on the beach told her that he'd just seen some guys throwing the bait into the water. Aside from the obvious problem that this bait is intended to attract sharks into the swimming area, it is smelly and disgusting! Not what you want to see when you're taking a nice swim or looking for shells!
2. Dead sharks will end up washed ashore by morning. This has already happened on Delray Beach. We have seen dead sharks on the beach while taking a morning walk.
3. Exhausted and injured sharks may be eaten by other larger sharks. As sharks are opportunistic hunters, larger sharks will be attracted to feed on the weak and injured sharks that have been released back into the water. These larger sharks will come to recognize that Delray Beach is a good place to visit for an easy meal. Large sharks coming into the shallow water on Delray Beach looking for the dead and injured sharks that are the aftermath of the previous evening's fishing party is certainly not the type of shark behavior we should encourage.
4. During the struggles between injured sharks that are fighting for for their lives and [inebriated] fishermen trying to return the sharks to the ocean, the chances of someone being bitten are almost inevitable.
5. Some of the injured sharks will not have the strength to swim far away and will be hanging around in the shallow water. Sharks normally go out of their way to avoid people, but a desperate, injured animal can be dangerous to unsuspecting to swimmers.
Are these the types of images of Delray Beach that we want to portray to our citizens or tourists? We do not want or need the negative press that will surely ensue when a beach goer is bitten while enjoying our waters. Even a scratch or small bite by a shark makes the news as a"Shark Attack".
These fishermen are actively recruiting new members, which will bring more fishermen and sharks to our waters and more bloody sharks onto our beaches. Having bloody sharks on the beach is again, not an image that Delray Beach wants to promote. Newspapers and TV stations will get wind of these developments and will display these horrific images to their viewers and readers.
As you know, Delray Beach is a coastal tourist community that depends on the ocean and the life in it. It is an outrage that we would allow such blatant disregard and disrespect for our coastal environment. The shark fishing activity that this club is promoting paints a very ugly picture of Delray Beach, is potentially dangerous to our residents and tourists and is just all around a bad idea.
Other reasons why allowing this activity to continue in Delray Beach is a bad idea:
1. Sharks are seriously threatened due to overfishing: * Over 150 shark species are on the IUCN list of endangered species. Nineteen shark species are prohibited under Florida law. It's clear from our conversations with members of this club that these fishermen are not able to identify the shark species they're catching, nor do they care. * Populations of many shark species have been reduced by over 90% in the past 30 years (over 100 million killed per year worldwide -- mostly for shark fin soup). * 80-90% of all shark populations just in the Atlantic have been reduced to levels that scientists believe can never recover. * As apex predators, sharks are absolutely vital to the ocean's ecosystem -- they maintain the balance in the oceans. Without sharks the oceans die.
2. Shark meat is highly contaminated with mercury and other toxins, yet this group is promoting consumption of shark meat and even have recipes posted on their website. The 2008 publication titled "Your Guide to Eating Fish Caught in Florida" says the following with regard to sharks (page 21): For all Florida coastal waters, all shark species: * Sharks less than 43 inches - Women of child bearing age and youngchildren - DO NOT EAT - Everyone else - Limit to one serving per month *Sharks 43 inches or more - Women of child bearing age and youngchildren - DO NOT EAT - Everyone else - DO NOT EAT http://www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/medicine/fishconsumptionadvisories/fish_eating_guide_eng.pdf
3. Monday June 8th is World Ocean's Day. At this time more than ever we need to promote and share the beauty of our ocean environment and educate young people about the importance of respecting and saving these vital resources.
Delray Beach is wonderful, beautiful and vibrant community. We love living here and greatly appreciate all the hard work that you and your colleagues have done to make Delray a great place to live and visit. We want to keep it that way and we're sure that you do too! This is why we are urging you to institute a ban on shark fishing on Delray's Beaches as quickly as possible. Thank you for you attention to this matter. Please feel free to contact us anytime. Sincerely,
Bless the author for having been eloquent, extremely well documented, convincing and polite. This is pretty much the case in point for what we said a while ago - just much much more intelligent and better presented!
And what's going on is much much worse and obscene than I could have ever imagined! I didn't know that people like that even existed! More disgraceful pics of the drunken mob parading the Sharks if you go through the forums in the above website. Shocking!
He of the Turkeys and Hams! Yes, this guy! He popped into our dive shop on Tuesday asking for directions to the folks down the road. Dunno if he did it to spite us or because of a genuine mistake - thing is, we realized then that we had lost the battle and that Deadly Waters would be featuring their Fiji segment as planned.
We already knew they were trying to weasel in via the back door as one of the local liveaboards had long asked us whether we would be willing to host them and a group of clients for a professional 3-day shoot for Discovery's Shark Week. When we finally managed to dig out some details, we were told that the group would come with their own safety divers, need a chumsicle and require no further service other than unlimited access to our site. It was also stated that the show "had not yet been named" and that they intended to try and bring the Sharks to the surface for topside shooting.
Sound familiar? Here are excerpts from the original "Experiment List" of Deadly Waters, by Gurney Productions, Discovery's pet production house for anti-Shark programming.
Fiji: Tiger/Bull Sharks
To compare how depth affects the predatory nature of sharks, we’ll deploy two balls of frozen bait at different depths. One will be at the surface, the other will be eighty feet below. We’ll then watch if sharks in the Bahamas are more likely to strike deeper underwater and hypothesize a reason. Finally, Les will draw a comparison between Tiger, Mako, and Bull shark behavior.
We will head to a remarkable Tiger and Bull Shark feeding ground that has rarely if ever been filmed. Although they are the deadliest shark on earth, these well fed Tigers and Bulls are used to seeing divers and usually ignore them – but every now and then they randomly attack and kill one – why? Is it something the diver does?
Les will go down in a specially designed clear polycarbonate shark cage which will make him appear to the sharks as though he is unprotected. Les will conduct a series of experiments to try to elicit an attack responsefrom the sharks (he will be safe). He will flail about, float lifelessly, release a large burst of bubbles and finally hold freshly killed fish, in order to determine what is causing these well fed sharks to randomly kill humans!
Just Great! After years of trying to establish a safe and mellow routine and to keep the Sharks away from the surface, having Les & Co. come and thrash our dive site!
We of course declined to enable the shoot. Yes, for the second time! I'm sure you've read the link above (if not, please do) so I'm gonna spare you the bit about the evil anti-Shark propaganda and damage to Fiji's vulnerable tourism industry. Instead, let me post this letter from a fellow dive professional we work with.
Upon reading the experiment list it leaves me in a state of amazement. The idea of putting Les in a perspex tube to incite an attack on a diver is totally irresponsible. It shows zero thought to any future divers & is trying to promote an attack. Where did they come up with the theory that any diver/swimmer has ever been attacked let alone killed by a bull shark in Fiji? The other experiment of trying to lure them to the surface also goes totally against the safety that the operations in that area adhere to which is to keep them deep & not surface orientated. I hope very much that this project does not proceed in Fiji as it is the last thing that the diving or tourist industry here needs. On a purely selfish note; we want to use the bull shark dive as a drawing card to get guests to book on our liveaboard & this show will do nothing to help us down that path. The reality is that it may even deter divers from coming to this destination in the future as they will simply associate Fiji with bull sharks attacking people. This is not good news & lets hope that it does not happen. I could go on & on about this but in short the bull sharks here have no history of attacking people so to let someone in the water for a few days to make a sensationalist documentary about that happening & potentially create attack scenarios on people in the future is abhorrent.
Well, we sure gave it our best shot. We tried convincing the liveaboard that this was not the kind of business and publicity they, or Fiji wanted. A friend spent political capital trying to convince their offshore headquarters. More political capital was invested in seeking dialogue with the Fijian Authorities. Hell, fearing the worst as they were always gonna be the dark horse in the process, we even had somebody try and talk sense to our local competitor!
I guess we should have known better. Money apparently talks - much louder than one's professed love of Sharks and fake Eco-branding. And contrary to the title of this post, it does have a smell. It reeks of greed, recklessness, stupidity and disrespect of one's host Country. This is now their legacy - and I'll leave it at that. See, I'm still trying to be polite!
But in the end, it's not our Country, not our dive, not our operation - and hopefully, not our reputation, either. Although as always, we'll have to share the negative repercussions, as will Fiji Tourism.
In the end, the real losers will be the Sharks. A great shame - especially because we got so close to doing the right thing.
PS: Underwater Thrills have followed up with this great post. Kudos.
Apparently, some fishermen in the Australian Northern Territory have gone out on a rampage and snapped the back and then dumped dozens upon dozens of Sawfish (or Saw Sharks), critically endangered animals, to prevent them from getting entangled in their nets.
Kudos to Primary Industry Minister Kon Vatskalis for having enacted a 3-month fishing ban as a consequence. I sure hope that the other commercial fishermen will make it a point to personally go and thank the perpetrators for having lost their income! Full story here.
All over the Globe, we are finally, and thankfully witnessing a tenuous consensus that the Ocean's Apex Predators are not just some superfluous vermin, but essential and fragile cornerstones of the Marine Ecosystem that need to be protected. And yet, in this day-and-age, the morons at Animal Planet see it fit to publish the following description of Bull Sharks, yet again a threatened species (read the link - very nice!).
“What is it that turns these fish into vicious, murderous killers? That is what I want to find out,” says Wade. “
No fish inspires the same terror as the shark, a creature with an insatiable hunger for brutal violence. But at least these killers are confined to the oceans. Or are they? Expert angler Jeremy Wade investigates the deadly bull shark.
A Freshwater Nightmare: The bull shark is a river monster of nightmares — it is a sea creature that can tolerate fresh water, allowing it to travel far up rivers and close to contact with humans. Its tendency to dwell in shallow coastal waters and rivers ranging from the Atlantic to the Indian to the Pacific Ocean, coupled with its unpredictable and aggressive behavior, lead many scientists to label it as the species responsible for the majority of shark attacks on humans.
Bad to the Bone: The bull shark gets its name from its stocky build, its broad snout and its aggressive nature. It is known to make sharp, unpredictable bursts of speed and often utilizes the "bump and bite" technique to capture prey, during which it first head-butts prey before attacking. Bull sharks have been known to attack large animals, including one account of an attack on a racehorse in Queensland, Australia. They regularly prey on dolphins, other sharks, and have proven themselves more than willing to attack humans — sometimes simply out of curiosity. Their speed, strength and agility — not to mention sharp, heavily serrated teeth — make such attacks potentially deadly.
To demonize an animal like they have done, is Evil.
Sadly, I'm not surprised. Like their idiotic brethren at Discovery, they have obviously thrown overboard any resemblance of being ecologically minded in favor of pandering to the basest of emotions.
Yeah, right... what to say...
Even toothy Patric over there at Shark Diver has been unusually restrained in his comments.
Guess we're are all kinda speechless.
Maybe the way to start this thing is to say that one probably shouldn't blame the clients.
Fortunately for all of us, Diving has gone mainstream - but that implies that we really get to see all sorts. The fools we encounter have no particularly nefarious intentions, they are probably just a reflection of what's out there in the general population, and I'm gonna refrain from commenting about the peculiarities of this or that Country - tho being your average xenophobic and campanilistic European, I certainly could!
This may surprise you but I don't even take issue with the tug-of-war with the Lemons.
The Sharks very likely couldn't care less and their reward should amply compensate them for any perceived discomfort. Predation ain't a pretty and peaceful thing and most meals down there come at a cost, energetically and otherwise - just picture those Tigers and Great Hammers that are studded with Stingray barbs and you may agree that Evolution has most likely selected for a fair degree of resilience in Predators.
Not to worry.
Thing is, Shark Diving has certainly come a long, long way!
Mind you, places like Cocos and the Galapagos are still very much the way they used to be - that is, minus the profusion of Sharks, but that's another story altogether. But there, one obviously doesn't need to bait.
Baiting for Sharks was started by professional UW photographers and cinematographers like Cousteau, the Taylors or Herwarth Voigtmann, a German guy who convinced his girlfriend Vreni and then his daughter Bine to pose topless whilst hand- and mouth-feeding Grey Reefies in the Maldives. The images were spectacular and inspired a whole generation of divers.
In the beginning, those were purely private and professional undertakings and kept strictly separated from recreational diving.
The first "proper" commercial Reef Shark feeding operation were probably Stella Maris and UNEXSO in the Bahamas (or maybe it was Herwarth when he decided to go commercial), and Rodney Fox most probably established the first commercial cage diving operation.
But I'm digressing.
Anyway, back then, the Reefies were a real big thing.
With everybody toting along some camera, the clients wanted to emulate the published work of the pros and were willing to pay any price to get face-to-face with a Shark. Shark dives were thus highly lucrative, prompting every Dick Tom and Harry to venture into the business of commercial Shark feeding.
It all was sort of ragtag and improvised (read it, very funny!) and resulted in the establishment of feeding stations like the "Lion's Head" in the Maldives or Avatoru in Rangiroa that were being "worked on" by every Dive Shop in the vicinity. Other feeding stations like those on the Burma Banks or "Valerie's Reef" in PNG were established by Liveaboards and equally shared.
Did anybody care to try and have those areas protected? Of course not - but mind you, those were the 70ies and the 80ies and there was no realization that matters were dire, nor was there the Internet on which to find that information.
Anyway, inexperience being inexperience, competition being competition and Reefies being Reefies, it was only a matter of time til the accidents started piling up. Sound familiar?
Fortunately, those incidents were only "minor" ones and confined to the feeders who would then be able to proudly, and heroically display the nicks to the ever-present adoring bimbettes.
But they were perceived to be bad for Tourism and the Authorities stepped in and enacted feeding bans. Or, as the sites were not being protected, the bad guys stepped in and fished them out. Fact is, most of those "shared" places have been decommissioned.
The Bahamian and Ozzie operations, on the other hand, quickly saw the writing on the wall and resorted to chainmail suits when hand feeding or to other techniques like Chumsicles and have continued to operate basically unchanged until present times.
Again, I'm just talking about small Reef Sharks - and still, in my recollection, all those commercial dives were strictly structured as spectator events whereby no direct interaction was ever allowed between Sharks and Customers. Consequently, no Customer was ever hurt.
See where this is leading...?
Today, it seems to be an established fact that recreational diving with predatory Sharks in unbaited conditions is possible and safe provided that one respects some basic safety procedures, as in not to interfere with natural predatory events, to be aware of their corporeal language and not to dive in murky water.
Does that extend to macro Predators? Probably the answer is yes, although not having any personal experience with Great Whites, Makos and Oceanic Whitetips, I'm just relaying the opinion of other people in the know whom I trust. Not really being terribly brave myself, I'll however probably give it a pass, especially when it comes to Great Whites.
Thing is, without bait, chances to see any of them are close to zilch anyway.
Owing to Rodney's original insights (and common sense), baited commercial macro (predatory) Shark encounters have so far remained strictly confined to cage diving in oceanic conditions and involve blue water species like Great Whites, Makos and Blues.
The Pros have obviously continued to do what Pros do, and that is, to push the envelope. We all have seen those images. So have the camera-toting clients and I fear that it's only a matter of time until somebody will perceive a competitive edge in taking them cageless.
When it comes to the hitherto more obscure macro Reef Sharks as in Tigers, Bulls and Great Hammerheads, maybe even Lemons, the Jury is still very much out. Until quite recently, there weren't any "established" diving sites for those species and nobody really seemed to have any strong opinions about them, either. That is obviously changing.
The actual consensus seems to be that diving with them, even it baited conditions, doesn't necessarily require any cages.
We at BAD certainly concur with that view.
We will also always defend the right of anybody to interact with predatory Sharks in baited conditions - but only as long as that is being done in private.
Then, it is the same as any other dangerous private undertaking. Having done it myself, I know it to be exciting and highly rewarding and I wish those guys the best of luck and loads of fun. Let's not forget that much of what we consider to be perfectly mainstream today has been pioneered by individualistic adventurers who had the vision, curiosity, recklessness and above all, the balls to give it a try.
However!
When it is being done commercially, we strongly believe that any Operator conducting baited Shark Dives must ensure that the Sharks and the Customers are always kept strictly separated.
This may require using Shark cages or it may require other protocols aimed at obtaining the same result. As I shall never tire to repeat, procedures will always be situation-specific and will always imply a judgment call by the operator. That judgment, we believe, should however never extend to allowing interactive Shark Dives by Customers. Certainly not in Fiji but probably nowhere else, either.
Baited Shark Diving is not recreational SCUBA Diving - never was and never will be. Whereas on Reef Dives, certified divers are routinely left to fend for themselves, we believe that on baited Shark Dives, the onus of supervising the Clients and ensuring their safety rests squarely with the Operators.
We also believe this, although it doesn't directly concern this tread. Exploiting a dive site automatically entails a personal obligation for its Stewardship. This is especially true for Shark Diving and I invite everybody to refrain from diving with Operators who do not make a contribution to Shark Conservation in general and who do not aim at protecting their sites in particular. We've made that mistake 40 years ago and we must learn from that experience.
Having been one of them, I'm certainly acutely aware of the aspirations of the many gifted and experienced hobby photographers and cinematographers.
They tend to be the wealthiest, best traveled, most experienced and also, the most influential of our Clients and we love to showcase their work as part of our marketing, the more as they often match and sometimes surpass the results of the Pros. After all, once one has mastered the technique, much is due to pure luck and perseverance which are not linked to somebody's professional qualifications.
Whenever possible, at BAD, we try to position them in such a way that they will "get the shot" , which they mostly do -but that's where the buck stops.
Whatever their level of experience and regardless of their sometimes vociferous reservations, our Customers are never allowed to go fully interactive or to go exploring by themselves.
We reserve that right for bona fide Industry Professionals, and even then, never without close supervision. It's obviously an arbitrary and imperfect differentiation - but that's where we have chosen to draw the line and that's that.
Despite of the obvious dilemma of having to choose between business and principle, we remain of the opinion that this is the only sustainable way for us to operate in this Industry.
I just corresponded with another Industry Professional about this and got back this comment.
"There always exists risks of an accident or the unexpected taking place and as the organizers and "folks in charge", we have a moral (as well as probably legal obligation) to ensure that people are not hurt on one of our adventures, through actions we encourage. We have discussed and continue to discuss ways to reduce that possibility, but we need to do that without taking away the major reason of why people are there and what we are trying to offer them. I entirely agree that we must all tread very carefully, for the sake of our clients health, but perhaps even more so for the sake of the sharks."
I could not agree more - that's precisely the Catch-22 we're facing.
We will always be asked by our Customers to make exceptions and to push the envelope just a tiny little bit more. That's what Customers will never cease to do in their quest for ever more adrenaline and ever more spectacular images. The privilege, and obligation to make those decisions is however not theirs, but ours. It is us, the commercial Operators, who need to define the limits of where this can be allowed to go - for the safety of our Clients but for our own safety, too, and for the sake of the survival of our Industry. I believe that when it comes to Commercial Shark Diving, we have reached the very limit of what is possible whilst still being reasonable. One more small step in the wrong direction and it's gonna bite us all in the ass.
I just wish that everybody in the Industry could agree on this.
(Yeah I know I know, and Pigs will fly...)
Let's be honest about this - and this is directed to you, our valued Customers as we the Operators know it already. Don't get me wrong, predatory Sharks are not Man-Hunters - but they're certainly never, ever harmless, either!
In fact, predatory macro Sharks are bloody dangerous and anybody claiming otherwise doesn't know what he's talking about! It is great to be pro-Shark and anti-"Jaws"- it is however utter foolishness to believe that your Love is being reciprocated.
It is not!
Although I concur with those who say that interacting with the nervous and frisky Reefies is more challenging than interacting with the Big Boys, it is equally true that the resulting accidents are relatively harmless.
Having witnessed quite a few bites, I know that piscivorous Reef Sharks couldn't care less about human blood and will leave it at that. I also know that the bites, albeit painful, are easily fixed with a couple of stitches and some antibiotics - in fact, dog bites are probably worse. Barring a tragedy as the severing of a major artery, the victims are certainly going to survive.
Macro predatory Sharks may seem manageable and in the case of Tigers with their placid cruising speed and dreamy eyes, they may even appear to be outright mellow. It is also quite safe to assume that they equally have no interest in attacking SCUBA Divers.
But let there never be a doubt about how immensely powerful they are, and how potentially lethal! Their bites are always devastating and once blood has been spilled, there's no reason to assume that they will never jump at the chance for a meal, the more as many of them are generalistic feeders whose diet includes mammals.
Please, let's not be stupid!
Accidents have happened and will continue to happen - that's the nature of what we do and we're also certainly not infallible. I would also presume that each and everyone of us is striving to conduct things as safely and professionally as possible. After all, we would all like to conduct good, sustainable business. Also, none of us has a Death Wish - right?
Thus, and contrary to maybe others, I'm quite willing to accept that there will be freak accidents and bona fide mistakes. Where I personally draw the line is where those events are clearly the result of negligence and hubris. Yes this will always remain a learning experience - but the learning curve needs to be bloody steep! This is now a global Industry and we should profit from it, by always being eager to keep abreast of what's going on in other parts of the world. That includes taking on other people's insights and being willing to learn from mistakes, our own and those of others, too. By the same token, we should always keep in mind that what we do affects everybody else in the Industry, and vice versa.
That's why I am so shocked by this video.
It is obviously preposterous and embarrassing and depicts a bunch of stupid, reckless and disrespectful morons - but that is not the issue. As I said, they sure come in all shapes and guises and it is up to us to deal with that. I sure hope they've left a huge tip!
The issue here is the apparent utter failure by the Operator to provide those guys with any guidance, it is his obvious disregard for safety procedures and it is also his failure to recognize the damage a video like this will inflict to his reputation, and to that of the Industry as a whole.
Quite frankly, I still keep scratching my head.
What possessed him to let this happen on his watch? Is he just being oblivious of the dangers? Or, is he maybe trying to occupy a competitive niche by attracting the mavericks?
Perhaps he just doesn't give a shit - but whatever his motivation, or lack of: This is just not sustainable.
It is also profoundly disrespectful.
Turning this site into a circus arena makes a mockery of those people, foremost of which Jimmy Abernethy, who cautiously nurtured Tiger Beach into being one of the best, safest and most prominent Shark Diving destinations in the world and committed so much to educate divers and to protect and justify Shark Diving's existence.
A good friend just wrote
"Funny, last night at dinner a colleague and I were discussing the absurd video and how insulted I felt after viewing it.
I had a range of emotions of embarrassment, disappointment, anger and
sheer disbelief and a bit of shame that this is what we have come to in
what we all had so passionately protected and cultivated over the years."
This is not about Ethics, or the like. This is about the professional standards and the future of the Shark Diving Industry and quite frankly, it's all rather disheartening.
Let's hope somebody learns something from it - tho alas, I'm not about to start holding my breath.
Whilst Guadalupe is reeling from the effects of a chumming ban that threatens to shut down a multimillion Shark viewing industry (no doubt, much to the delight of the Shark mafia who are thus getting rid of unwelcome witnesses), here's a real nice post about the subject of chumming from a South African blog about Gaansbai.
If there ever was any doubt about it, it just confirms how globally interlinked Shark Diving has become.
Just like the morons who continue to pester us with their relentless stupidity.
I really had to restrain myself from choosing a title like "Discovery Channel - nothing more than a bunch of effing Clowns", or the like. But quite frankly, in the face of this, I feel kinda deflated and ranted-out.
Right...
Fantastic pic by Chip Scarlett - taken from within the cage!
From the South Florida Shark Club's Triple Crown site
... this is sure hard to beat.
Here we go again.
