Thanks for these links Halcyon Daze.....In reading them, they bring up many more issues than I had considered before regarding the effects of different methods of feeding on the surrounding eco-system....Each tends to bring up more questions than it raises, but in regard to the present situation in Jupiter......Here we have several studies with long term monitoring, and NO sudden exploded mortality or ER visits in visiting divers--which speaks well to the beliefs on shark feeding shared with us by Randy and his buddies.
Moreover, there is a large body of research being done, with protocols we could easily borrow, and what was just posted here is showing some "holes" in what was researched, that we could help fill in with the Jupiter system.
Among the higher interest topics that jump out at me.....the effects on feeding on which certain species become more dominant in volume, versus the species which decline due to interspecies competition between them--that are essentially "forced out" of the area by the more dominant sharks ( what I would guess to be Bull sharks and Tiger Sharks.....this "could" suggest Randy may be able to alter the population dynamics and over time, gain many tiger sharks rather than just the single Tiger he now has.....and in addition to the positive eco-tourism effects this would have, it would create eco-system modifications such as predation on turtle species as this predation differs by shark species and it's volume in an area). It would also shift the prey species dynamics from the shark species that would be displaced by the larger more agressive sharks, the assumption being that some prey species would increase in populations, and others targeted by the dominant Bulls and Tigers, would diminish.
Little functional discussion of behavior to humans was developed in this collection of papers, but given the conspicuous absence of attack numbers, the assumption would be that the discussion of dangerous aggressive shark behavior from the feeds is still at a theoretical level, meaning it may take more than 10 years of heavy feeding for this to occur--or, it could mean that the current feeding tactics by the operators in the studies succeeded in preventing high frustration levels in sharks collecting for the feeds, or that the halting of feeds during the shark mating seasons may have helped to avoid the more aggressive behaviors causing catastrophic consequences for tourists.
Reading these papers has shifted my take on the shark feeds.....
I don't see Randy stopping the feeding in federal waters....the economic incentive is too high. There is no way to prevent Randy from doing this, and given the information I am now getting from these papers, I am not so sure I would want him to stop.
The research offers some very compelling directions for Palm Beach to take.
What I do see are some areas where researchers could work with Randy to assist in determining the best way to manage feeds and that result in the lowest frustration levels for the low pecking order sharks that show up....And the researchers may be able to help develop feeding plans for preventing the less dominant species from being displaced by the bulls and tigers. If this shows the actual population over the larger jupiter area would change radically, meaning suddenly we have a much larger population of bulls and tigers 4 years from now--then is this going to have an environmental effect of prey species that Palm Beach needs to be concerned about...
I think Randy has found a "money tree", I already created a massive bad will between he and myself, over his picking of this money tree due to the possible repercussions I was concerned with in shark behaviors to dive tourists----and I am not expecting this bad will to change much. On the other hand, the future is going to be "where the money is", so we might as well be constructive with what we have....
I am inclined to call for the PB County Dive Association and our connections with FAU and other marine scientists, to work toward a larger research project, that would embrace shark feeds and help make them less destructive to the ecosystem, and to mitigate the potential dangers to divers. Worst case scenario, standard dive gear 10 years from now might be divers carrying aroudn a 3 foot long pvc pipe, with go pro on it if they like....and when a shark comes in close to investigate, each diver has the required "tool" to safely keep away from the curious hands of the shark ( test biting equals curious hands).
I am not making an apology to Randy and his friends....I believe they are still changing shark behavior against the will of the majority. But there is not going to be any way to stop this, so I would prefer to end my war-like early response pattern, and I will now begin speaking more with marine scientists I know about studies that could make an uncomfortable situation, better.
