Media and the Thrill-Seekers: a bad combination for shark ecotourism

I've been involved in some video editing and so, my apologies, I have been tardy on my posts.

There has been a significant buzz generated the past few days within the shark ecotourism community regarding a Today Show/MSNBC segment that ran on Monday regarding shark diving in the Bahamas - an area that has seen increasing reckless behavior on the part of some dive operators. And, unfortunately, that was the tone of the media piece, showing shark divers as thrill-seeking, adrenaline junkies. Whatever half-hearted attempt on the part of the leader of the trip to offer comments about moderate shark behavior was lost under the news commentator's slant of irresponsible thrill-seeking divers asking for trouble.

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Well, in hindsight, they were asking for trouble. Shark diving neophytes, no cage available as a safety option, hand feeding, direct human-shark interaction (touching, grabbing) - that is a recipe for disaster.

In the past, I have commented on the thrill-seekers in shark diving and the difference between those who pay to see sharks (tourists, paying customers) and those who are paid to see sharks (scientists, filmmakers) - Click here and here. And with this latest round of negative media attention, there have been two excellent posts on the subject from my colleague, Patric Douglas of SharkDivers.com, and Fiji's Beqa Adventure Divers. (Click here for Patric's and here for Beqa's.)

Patric correctly describes the growing shark diving industry as having three legs: commercial, political, and conservation. Thrill-seeker operators focus on only the commercial aspect, using short-term gain strategies that ignore - or thumb their nose at - the political realities (government regulations, lawyers, insurance companies, etc.). It certainly does not help the long-term interests of shark ecotourism. In the next few weeks I'm going to be speaking with several California lawmakers regarding Isla Guadalupe's white sharks and some issues of concern between the Mexican government and San Diego dive operators. And thanks to this recent media attention, I know I will be having to do a lot of backpedaling before I can move the agenda forward.

But conservation also plays a key role in the future of ecotourism. Working with marine scientists and educators, shark ecotourism must play an active role in supporting research studies and focusing their reason for existence on the preservation of our dwindling shark populations. The thrill-seeking approach will ultimately run afoul of the political and ecological trends that are growing, but I am afraid those punitive actions will be broad and impact shark ecotourisim as a whole.

What great white sharks & monarch butterflies have in common

On 05/20/07, RTSea wrote: This past week, I was watching a segment of the Today show, a U.S. morning news program, that examined the famous annual migration of the Monarch butterfly from the eastern U.S. to one particular spot in Mexico: millions of butterflies swarming together deep in a Mexican forest. An amazing sight but one that is also in jeopardy due to illegal tree-cutting that is shrinking their available habitat.

Oddly enough, these same insects reminded me of the great white sharks that inhabit Isla Guadalupe off the Baja coast during the months of September through December. There are actually strong similarities between these magnificent sharks and the Monarch butterfly. The great white sharks return to Isla Guadalupe after a long migration, one that has been suspected to include stops at deep seamounts in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. After their long journey, they come to feed on the island"s tuna and seal populations. But the similarity goes beyond their remarkable migrations.

The other tragic similarity is that both of these creatures are endangered: the butterfly from a potential loss of habitat, and the shark from hunting for fins, jaws, and teeth. At the present time, there are laws on the books to protect both, but the Mexican government is painfully short of resources to enforce the laws it has enacted. Several years ago, the Mexican government declared Isla Guadalupe a "protected biosphere" and last year laws were put in place to outlaw the taking of great white sharks, in addition to several other elasmobranchs, in and around the island. All well and good, however, Isla Guadalupe is a rugged and remote island 150 miles west of the Baja coast and the Mexican authorities are in no position to station a vessel or personnel there during the months the sharks appear. Rather than let it die as an empty promise, this is where the citizen activist can play a role.

Eco-tourism companies, like SharkDiver.com, have been working closely with scientific researchers from Mexico and the U.S. who have been studying the population and behaviors of the sharks at Isla Guadalupe. While providing people the opportunity to see great white sharks from the safety of protective cages, these operations have also been providing research teams with logistical support and supplies. It is a unique working relationship that has proven itself successful for several years. Self-serving, you say? Perhaps to a degree, but in that respect, it serves as a perfect example of how business and science can work together towards a common environmental goal. And as a filmmaker, I have worked closely with several of these organizations and can attest to their genuine concern for the fate of the great white shark - not as a potential cash cow, but as another endangered species that we cannot afford to lose.

In lieu of a lack of resources to enforce the laws protecting the great white sharks at Isla Guadalupe, the Mexican government needs to tightly restrict the number of permits that allow boats at the island: if you can qualify and quantify your willingness to, both, support scientific research and act as ad hoc enforcement, then you can be considered for a permit. In essence, when there are not enough sheriffs, then form a posse. Not all shark diving operations are so environmentally committed, so only the dedicated companies would qualify. But this would be better than an all out ban, as there would then be no one watching out for the sharks.

Mexico is now beginning to send patrols deep into the forest jungle to ward off tree poachers (it amazes me that these poachers are able to get away with it; we are talking big trees here). If the Mexican government is unable to provide the naval vessels or crew to regularly patrol the waters around Isla Guadalupe, then a small number of dedicated eco-tourism vessels would seem a viable alternative - a way to give well-intended legislation a little teeth, pardon the pun.