Both here and the arrest thread, you post this quasi neutral info with regard to shark feeding. We may well share an interest in marine critters including sharks, But we all need to stop interfering with the lives of sharks as do so many others. What none of us, or the critters; need is a research model something like the Japanese whale research model, kill a batch and see what turns up!
Funny you should mention the Japanese whale research model - according to the
Emerald's Facebook page, NMFS just harvested 72 bull sharks out of the Jupiter area prior to the June 1 season opener for "fisheries-dependent" research. Do I see a petition to stop that "interference?" Nope. I've seen several scientists object to that incident. Personally I'd like some answers as to what they gained from that. Now, as for other, nonlethal research that is done on sharks - tagging and tracking studies, DNA sampling, gathering physiological data, or behavioral studies - does that count as "interference" even though it gives us valuable information on the animals and their ecosystem? Information we can use to develop regulations that protect them - and us? I've helped out with a little bit of shark research over the years and know quite a few folks who make it their life's work, and they're some of the brightest and most dedicated folks I know. They don't just spout blather about conserving these animals - they go out and find how we can do it.
I don't see baited shark dives in the same altruistic light by a long shot - they're moneymakers first and foremost, but then again so is sport diving in general. Most divers hardly ever see sharks; I used to dive the Key Largo reefs two days every month for work plus a healthy number of recreational dives and never saw anything more than a smallish nurse shark. I started going up to the West Palm area precisely because that's where the sharks were. The boats that don't bait for sharks are more than happy to drop divers right on the
Emerald's usual feeding spots and go looking for them, even with all the noise about "conditioned" sharks being there. Sharks are a draw for divers, and seeing them in the wild drives those divers do go out and fight for their well-being. I'm not convinced that Randy and his patrons were a driving force behind the shark fishing season getting pushed back to June 1 this year - which means the lemon aggregations aren't getting hit - but it didn't hurt the effort. Now objectively, I have to balance that against the potential negative consequences ... which I haven't yet seen hard evidence of.
Again, I do not unconditionally support baited shark dives. I think this issue should be debated and studied in order to determine if there are indeed significant risks of negatively affecting sharks. I do think that these dives have an elevated level of personal risk to the participating divers and that handfeeding sharks is a risky practice for guys like Randy; if he gets bit one of these days I will not be particularly surprised. I am not sure whether or not that in itself warrants prohibitive action; you're still far more at risk of death or injury from the normal hazards of diving. However, I am also suspicious of the motives behind this petition. As stated it is not aimed at fostering debate; it is aimed at a total shutdown and judging from the video clip they're not above misrepresentation and exaggeration.
