Tiger Shark Movements at Tiger Beach - Paper!

You can visit the iconic Tiger Beach with GSD members Jim Abernethy Scuba Adventures and Epic Diving.

Good one!

Read this.

If I understand it correctly, it appears that the effects of provisioning at Tiger Beach are, if at all, minimal insofar as the Shark diving schedules appear to have an only negligible influence on overall Tiger Shark movements, and as the large majority of individual Sharks did leave for their annual migrations as already described many years ago.

And the four homebodies?

Maybe they just like it there, maybe they're in love with Jimmy or Eli, maybe they're just lazy or maybe that's just the "right" amount of Tigers in that area, who knows - plus, as our own research has shown, residency may be completely different in another year!

Long story short?

This is once again evidence that Shark tourism in general and Shark provisioning in  particular appear unproblematic at the ecosystem level whereas at finer scales, effects are, if at all, clearly sub-lethal. Granted it's merely a data point - but the evidence is certainly mounting!

And our increasingly irritating detractors? Like I never cease to repeat, come up with some fucking evidence or shut the fuck up! 

But I'm digressing as usual.

Enjoy Neil et al's interesting paper!

 

Tiger Beach - Paper!

Source.

Nice!

Have you seen this?

I cannot find it online - but somebody sent me the full text that says Open Access, so I assume it will appear shortly.

Anyway, here's the 

ABSTRACT: Advancing our knowledge of the reproductive biology and mating systems of freeranging sharks is inherently challenging. The large size and mobility of the specimens are just a few of the problems that make such studies complicated, and in some respects, impractical. The tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier is a large, roving, apex predator found in many oceans throughout the world. Although their nomadic nature is primarily linked to large-scale migrations, these sharks can also display site fidelity. 

One site where this is known to occur is at Tiger Beach, Bahamas. 
Unique to the waters of this area is the consistent sighting of large females. While the sex-specific use of the area remains unknown, the shallow, warm environment could represent a critical habitat for reproductive events. To investigate the reproductive biology of tiger sharks at Tiger Beach, 65 individuals were opportunistically sampled between 2011 and 2014. Reproductive status of captured females (n = 59) was assessed with ultrasonography and by measuring circulating sex steroid hormones (progesterone, testosterone and estradiol). 

Our results indicate that Tiger Beach is a high-use site for female tiger sharks of mixed life stages.
The results also suggest that Tiger Beach may function as a refuge habitat, allowing females to reach maturity free from male mating harassment, as well as functioning as a gestation ground where gravid females can benefit from year-round calm warm waters, which may reduce the gestation period and accelerate embryo development.

I really like this, especially the collecting of multi-pronged evidence.

Local lore had it that the  Tiger Shark aggregation was correlated with the fact that Sea Turtles would shelter on Little Bahama Bank during rough weather - but I guess we now know this to be, if at all, of only secondary importance.
Press release here.

Anyway, bravo, well done!

PS - here's the full text!

Jimmy, Neil and Al Jazeera - great Shark Media!

Affectionate Sharks? Hmmmm...

And talking of bimbos and Sharks.

Watch this.

This is how you do it!

No drama and undue hype but instead, plenty of science and passion garnished with the right conservation messaging that is being delivered unobtrusively between the lines as opposed the usual tired old unappealing pathos. This is really excellent, highly entertaining and highly informative programming - love not loss, remember?

Kudos!

And bless Jimmy!

His love and passion for his Sharks is just infectious and really quite endearing.

Tho the Tigers and affection thingy, hmmm...

Tricky tricky. I've not been to TB and have never met those specific, highly conditioned individuals. And I totally respect Jimmy for arguably being the world's foremost authority on diving with them, and I also believe him when he states that there's something going on.
 

Still, from my own, granted much more limited experience, I do consider Tiger Sharks to be highly deceiving.
Yes they certainly appear mellow but the way I see it, they are actually always probing for opportunities and likely to pounce when not properly acknowledged and dominated = what I call a head on a swivel Shark that requires constant supervision and should never be underestimated!

Case in point.

To me, that is typical Tiger.

Yes the situation can usually be defused by reacting assertively, much like that dude did with the attacking Blue - but IMO this is never the less a highly dangerous Shark that should never be taken for granted! But who knows - maybe the TB sharks are somehow different? I say, possibly but not very likely. So, please, don't do that at home - and if you really must, then only with great circumspection and flanked with copious amounts of fishy bribes!

Anyway.

Love love love that feature and once again, big congratulations to everybody that has made it possible!

Attempted Bite !

Source.

And here we go again.

This is, undoubtedly, Tiger Beach.

And this is the direct consequence of all those idiots, charlatans, media whores, whisperers, warriors, men and girls and whathaveyou that claim to be dispelling the myth by suggesting that those large predatory Sharks are completely harmless.

They are not.

They are not puppies that only want to hug, or whatever, but instead dangerous and potentially lethal wildlife. As a minimum, give them the fucking respect of acknowledging what they are!

And incidentally, this is precisely why we have our procedures, and why we will never negotiate with the adrenaline hunters and the over-eager photographers!

Anyway - watch.

PS - Pete Thomas, with erroneous interpretation here - but thanks for the shout-out! :)
PPS - stupid video here. No it is NOT mistaken identity and no, I am NOT taking aim at Jimmy who is a friend and whom I respect very much!

Tiger Beach - cool Research!

Nice!

I must say, I really like this.

It's about bloody time somebody took a long hard look at Tiger Beach - both to assess its biological importance and hopefully, one day, to finally evaluate the impact of those diverging diving protocols!

And since we're at it - could somebody please turn it into a full no-take MPA?

Anyway, bravo Neil for starting to tackle those obvious questions!

A Pet Tiger Shark?

Tiger Beach. Everybody does something different - and who is explaining it to the Sharks? Source.

And I cite.

Please do not attempt this. 
Tiger sharks are powerful wild animals, interaction with them requires years of training and experience to prevent harm or death to the animal or the person.

And now, watch this.

Remember this post? 

Sure you do! :)

Like back then, I am conflicted.

Obviously, there's food in the water, you can see it intermingled with the sand. But equally obviously, there's something else going on. Tarantino may have come in because of the food but it really appears that in this specific sequence, she is actively seeking some personal interaction, and this in a friendly way.

My take remains essentially the same.

Jimmy is one of the good guys. He's not in it for the money, he spends most of his life in the Sea because he loves doing what he does, and because he loves the animals. It is absolutely possible that in all those years, he has developed personal relationships with some of his Sharks, and it is equally absolutely possible that those bonds may include something akin to mutual affection. Like I said in that old post I linked, Valerie has been petting the Sea life for decades, and some of her personal bonds with individual Fishes are the stuff of legends. I've personally witnessed it many, many times and those interactions are both baffling and endearing - but what is most important, is that they are certainly authentic.

Case in point.

Long story short?

I believe that what Jimmy is showing us is equally authentic, much like I believe that Cristina has a special bond with some of her Sharks.

I equally strongly believe that this must remain the absolute exception.

Of all those famous Shark dives, Tiger Beach is the one that is now the biggest clusterfuck, this owing to those legions of self promoting media whores, wranglers and whisperers that have parachuted in for ever stupider exercises in pseudo-conservation, ever more disrespectful camera stunt work for those horrible productions and ever stupider and disrespectful exercises in manhandling.

We certainly don't need more troglodyte Shark diving on top of that.

Jimmy has earned himself the right to pet Tarantino by having spent thousands upon thousands of hours in the water with the same animals by which he has obviously developed personal bonds to a few individual Sharks.

Good for him, and for the Sharks.

You have not.

For you, the rule remains: watch but don't touch!

Eli - spot on!

How it should be - people on one side, Sharks on the other.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I agree with Eli.
Check this out - love love love it!



Spot on - seen it a squillion times.
That's your archetypical underwater photographer: whatever the extent of the previous instructions and warnings, once they are in the presence of the animals they are totally focused on getting the shot, glaringly oblivious of their surroundings even in the most dangerous situations, with their eye always glued to the viewfinder and then, they top if off by checking their image in the back screen - from a safety perspective, a total and unadulterated nightmare.
Always? Yes pretty much so!

Hence our draconian protocols.
In essence, we strictly separate the customers and the Sharks, do not allow any radical captures by amateurs and will provide body guards for the pros that are positioned and never allowed to roam freely - and yet, they always get the shot.
Over the years, this has led to a noticeable decline in overly ambitioned pushy elite amateurs and a noticeable increase in professionals and marine conservation NGOs, which for reasons I have explained elsewhere is exactly where we wish to position ourselves.

Buddy you may want to think about that.
Fun or no fun, right now what happens at TB looks like a losing proposition.

Bahamas!

Great to see that something is happening!

This is Your Ocean: Sharks from George Schellenger on Vimeo.

Bravo Jimmy!

Well said!

I've said it before, Mark's iDiveSharks is the place to be!
This week features a post by none other than Mr. Tiger Beach himself, Jimmy Abernethy. We've never met and to be perfectly frank, our relationship can probably be safely described as being wary ever since some weasel managed to start a small skirmish by proxy involving one of our best common friends, of which we have many.

I also won't deny that having reached completely different conclusions and until convinced otherwise, I remain skeptical about having large predatory Sharks circulate freely among tourists during commercial baited Shark dives.
But that's just my opinion as as such, certainly debatable - as incidentally is our controversial hand feeding!

What I'm however adamantly opposed to, are the ever increasing shenanigans happening on that site, of which this one is but a particularly stupid example - and I spare you the other links.

Not that he probably cares, but kudos to Jimmy for having spoken up and said it as it is - couldn't agree more! Let's hope that somebody listens! As a minimum, his countless fans!
I cite.

Once again the real threat with all these very large sharks was that many of the guests fell in love with our girl, Emma!
She seems harmless just like a big dog, but that doesn't mean she might accidentally hurt someone, while checking out their cameras etc, especially if someone did something stupid!

Yes, hugging and kissing in my opinion is stupid!
We are all in titled to our own opinion, but for me anything that puts the shark at a risk of making a mistake while interacting with us isn't worth the risk. Lately it seems many people want to ride or hand feed these beautiful creatures, which I will never allow on my boat.

To me if you truly love them you should treat them with respect.
If an accident happened, many people would like to project it as a shark attack, which isn't right.

I wish everyone that really loves sharks that has actually spent time with them, would work on telling the truth about them, so we can help convince the rest of the world how valuable they are, and why we need them!
The time of monster shark shows and tabloid journalism are outdated with those of us that really know sharks, because we know to much! I don't read the tabloids at the grocery counter and I refuse to work or watch any tabloid monster shows. I prefer the higher road, where these magnificent powerful creatures are projected truthfully!

Sorry probably had to much coffee this morning!
I hope you all are getting your shark fix somewhere soon!
Save the Sharks! Jim

Thank you BBC!

World champion Tanya Streeter with Caribbean Reefs.

Same location, completely different vibe and message!

Yes once again this is Tiger Beach, the scene of unspeakable stupidities performed by martial artists and wannabee Shark wranglers. But this time, it's not some cheap and self serving media stunt, this time it's a piece by the good people from the BBC - who do not use the Dolphin Dream but, I believe, Jimmy's Shear Water.

This is as pro-Shark as it gets. Kudos to everybody involved!
Enjoy!



And how about this! Notice the soundtrack?
Just beautiful!



PS Shark Week: watch & learn!

Tiger Beach - cool Research!

Hallelujah!

More pro-Shark features in the Florida press!
This time, it's a great article about Guy Harvey's research on Tiger Sharks in the Bahamas.

Yes, that would be "That" Guy, he of the T-shirts!
His bio mentions that Guy Harvey is a unique blend of artist, scientist, diver, angler, conservationist and explorer, fiercely devoted to his family and his love of the sea! And a real nice chap on top of that!

But much more than that, he is also the founder of the Guy Harvey Research Institute that is fiercely committed to the preservation of Fish and particularly, the big game Fish and Sharks. In fact, GHRI conduct some of today's most innovative Shark research and our Juerg often collaborates with them when doing his thing on Shark Reef.

And on top of that, he has done this!



Is this Guy cool - or what?

This time, Guy and his folks have gone to Tiger Beach to tag some Tigers.
It's a cool undertaking which aims at understanding the movements of those animals in the area - much like what we do in Fiji with our small-scale movement research. Whereas we feed the acoustic transmitters and sometimes attach them externally by using a spear gun, they rope in the Sharks and attach the tags internally. Not sure if I like that in terms of the stress they inflict on the animals - but it's fast, really quite harmless and they must have their reasons for believing that it's the best way to go.

And, it's for the best of causes.
Because as I read with great joy, it involves the Bahamian Government and has the aim to eventually have the area declared a Shark sanctuary!

Where did I hear that one before?
Great that things have been set in motion!

PS hat tip to Felix!

Saving the Bahamas Tigers

There has been a lot of brouhaha about a series of images depicting the killing and butchering of a pregnant Tiger Shark in the Bahamas. Here they are.
I'm obviously outraged and saddened.

Several Shark Diving blogs have posted them along with scathing comments and much energy has been invested in trying to ferret out the perpetrators. So far, it seems, they haven't been identified, nor the exact location and circumstances of this despicable act.

Question is: then what?
Are we going to inundate them with hate mail once we know who they are? Write more blog posts? Contact the mainstream media? Launch petitions?
And if so, is that going to make them behave differently in the future? Is that going to save a single Shark? And even if the answer is yes, would that be the most effective way to channel our frustration?

Thing is, people like that think that we're just a bunch of whackos anyway and could not care less about our opinion.
And why should they. What they do is perfectly legal and "Sport" Fishing has a following numbering in the millions and disposes of a well-organized and powerful lobby that will easily dispose of such a minor inconvenience.
It is also very good business for many Island Nations, one of them being the Bahamas.

Wanna see what those people are really capable of?
I pulled the above pic from the image gallery of Mark "The Shark" Quartiano, a mega-asshole and VIP favorite operating out of not some oscure Third World Country, but Florida, USA. A guy like that doesn't even get nailed when he kills protected species, like the Bigeye Thresher depicted. There are 1073 pictures, 90 pages of murdered Sharks - and this by just one man and one boat!

Keeping that in mind, do you really believe that our outrage and let's face it, our hopelessly incestuous blogging, petitioning and clamoring is going to make any difference at all?
Hardly - unless we take it to the next level.
But if we do, I'm convinced that we do in fact have an excellent chance for success.

No, not in having recreational Shark Fishing banned in general, that would just be delusional.
What we need to do is to heed this as a wake-up call that something has to happen. When it comes to the Tiger Sharks in the Bahamas, I believe that we should stop whining and instead focus our energy on making a real contribution to Conservation, and that right where it really matters to us. As Shark Diver (yes them again..) correctly remarks, now is the time for action and not only words.

Here's what I believe can be done.
Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm by no means an expert in Bahamian diving and have no clue of the "politics" and the like - but the impression I get is this.

We all know about the uniqueness and popularity of Tiger Beach.
It has been featured "everywhere" and has become one of the world's safest, most reliable and most widely published hotspots for diving with macro Sharks. Everybody who has been there raves about it and it is consequently attracting more and more tourists, film crews and scientists, to the point that bookings have now to be made months in advance - and this despite of an increase of dive Operators targeting that site. It is safe to assume that all of this it is very good business indeed.

On the negative side, lacking any established user protocols, there is an incipient issue of overcrowding. Some documented incidents show a trend towards ever more reckless, and thus dangerous interactions with the Sharks. There is a bitter ongoing feud between the Bahamian dive Operators and those Operators visiting the site from the US. There's another feud between "established" Operators and perceived interlopers. The site's notoriety is also increasingly attracting Shark fishermen who can legally target the animals.

I've said it before, if one disregards the feuds, politics and history, the crux of the problem is that Tiger Beach is not being protected.
Now, wouldn't that be a wonderful opportunity and challenge for somebody? To make a real difference?
Do I hear "Petition", "Ethics", "Image", "Public Opinion" and the like?
C'mon guys - get serious.

In Banking, we have a saying that Money talks, Bullshit walks.
The Bahamas are a poor Island Nation which is desperately dependent on Tourism income. Which begs the question, how much do the Bahamas get from the Shark Tourism to Tiger Beach?
In licensing fees from the Operators? Directly from the Divers? In ancillary revenues by the Tourism Industry as in flights, meals, accomodation, souvenirs, duty free sales, gambling etc etc? In terms of local employment? In berthing fees, fuel sales, shipyard business?

And how much income do the Bahamas derive from the Sport Fishing business?
Get the gist?

Thing is, it doesn't have to be that way.
Think about e.g Cocos or the Galapagos - and the solution could be this.

• Tiger Beach is declared a Marine Sanctuary - and thus fishing there is being outlawed
• there is a code of conduct and access is being regulated
• any Operator wanting to work there will need to obtain and pay for an according license that can be revoked if he infringes on the regulations
  
• when a vessel operates there, there is a daily park fee for the vessel and each of the customers
• ideally, that money is being used for enforcement, along with the obligation, and authority of each Operator to be of assistance

Is there anybody over there in the Bahamas or in the neighboring US who would like to step up to the plate and get the job done? As in, talking to the Bahamian Authorities and having it implemented?

But, I hear you ask, isn't that a mission for somebody "important", a powerful NGO or the like? Hell No! Anybody can do it!

Me, a nobody, did something very similar all by myself in Fiji, and then expanded on the concept with the help of BAD that was created for just that purpose. And I'm proud to report that others are now proudly reporting our achievements!
But I'm digressing. Shame on me.

Back to the Bahamas.
Run the math and you'll see that it's a compelling case, an easy sell.
It's not like you would be asking for some wide-ranging legislation, or the like. In the big scheme of things, Tiger Beach is nothing but a small speck in the middle of nowhere and you would be providing the Authorities with a viable concept, incremental income, good publicity, even the formula for enforcement!
Why would they ever say no? For them, there's only upside!

Will it be tedious, difficult and controversial? Not really!
Will the Operators gnash their teeth and try to convince us that such a measure would mean the demise of the business they run? Sure they will - but, does Cocos work? And the Galapagos? I mean, business-wise? The fact is, Clients love to pay for Conservation and most of the incremental costs could easily be passed on to them. Will their numbers dwindle because of that increase in price? Certainly not!
Granted, the "code of conduct" may deter some of the more "demanding" Clients - but how much of the target customer base would that really be? Provided that the ever-present Huggers don't get the upper hand when formulating the rules (and we can pre-empt that by proposing those rules ourselves), I can very well imagine a set of protocols that would improve on safety whilst still offering a great experience to the Clients. Isn't that what we should be striving for anyway? Wouldn't it be fair to anticipate that a protected site featuring more "orderly" protocols may even attract more Clients?

Makes sense? Any takers?

Hell, it's such a no-brainer that I might even decide to do it myself!
Just imagine the huge blow to the egos , and the reputation of the concerned Operators, Shark lovers and Shark user groups if some loudmouthed bozo from the South Pacific parachuted in and managed to pull this off right in their own back yard!
And if he then would publicly flaunt them for not having protected their own Sharks due to their laziness, narrow-mindedness and petty bickering. After having been shown how to do it!

Because, believe me - and if you don't, go ask my friends: that's exactly what I would do!
And that's a Promise!