This is my very opinionated view:
While seeing sharks up close a personal is something that many divers would like to do (me included), I believe that feeding the fish will ultimately alter their relationship with the sea. Look at the National Park system; do we feed bears there? No. If that isn't enough, look at Stingray City, Grand Cayman. Ten years ago, they were fairly gentle creatures during the feeds; however this past summer they were extremely aggressive towards divers, one suffering three hickeys. Now those are fairly benign creatures; sharks are a bit more predatory.
I am not dismissing the fact that the Florida Legislators have their head up where the sun don't shine and turning a blind eye to other potential culprits. To be truely unbiased, the fishing industry chumming the sea near where swimmers bathe has to be addressed as well. A chummed sea near beaches will attract sharks (and other fish) to an area that is well populated. Dive Training Magazine just ran a article/editorial that addresses this as well. I do not believe that divers are the entire issue here; the government is taking a tunnel vision stance on it because diving is viewed as a rogue recreational past time by many. There is a lack of public education and a lack of resources to make the knowledge known.
I would love to see a shark, but I am also an observer and like to see the underwater wildlife in their natural habitat. I do not believe feeding the fish puts them in their natural habitat; we are altering their ecosystem by doing so. The dive industry will find revenue will not be hindered due to the ban on feeding. There are other interesting things underwater.
We have yet to learn from our on going mistakes, perhaps one day the human race will figure out that the bottom line is not always best for the world as a whole; perhaps one day the world population will get its head out of the sand and see all sides of an issue before blindly making decisions that adversly affect others; I just hope that it is not too late.
While seeing sharks up close a personal is something that many divers would like to do (me included), I believe that feeding the fish will ultimately alter their relationship with the sea. Look at the National Park system; do we feed bears there? No. If that isn't enough, look at Stingray City, Grand Cayman. Ten years ago, they were fairly gentle creatures during the feeds; however this past summer they were extremely aggressive towards divers, one suffering three hickeys. Now those are fairly benign creatures; sharks are a bit more predatory.
I am not dismissing the fact that the Florida Legislators have their head up where the sun don't shine and turning a blind eye to other potential culprits. To be truely unbiased, the fishing industry chumming the sea near where swimmers bathe has to be addressed as well. A chummed sea near beaches will attract sharks (and other fish) to an area that is well populated. Dive Training Magazine just ran a article/editorial that addresses this as well. I do not believe that divers are the entire issue here; the government is taking a tunnel vision stance on it because diving is viewed as a rogue recreational past time by many. There is a lack of public education and a lack of resources to make the knowledge known.
I would love to see a shark, but I am also an observer and like to see the underwater wildlife in their natural habitat. I do not believe feeding the fish puts them in their natural habitat; we are altering their ecosystem by doing so. The dive industry will find revenue will not be hindered due to the ban on feeding. There are other interesting things underwater.
We have yet to learn from our on going mistakes, perhaps one day the human race will figure out that the bottom line is not always best for the world as a whole; perhaps one day the world population will get its head out of the sand and see all sides of an issue before blindly making decisions that adversly affect others; I just hope that it is not too late.
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