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It was a joke... Sheesh.
Comments/Reviews on Salt and Pepper Whale Shark Trip
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And the way you edited your post today may clear that up. Careful with the joke stuff or some moderator will boot it to the humor forum
Snappahead
Guest
I believe a moderator can moderate another moderator yet this moderate type of thing is seldom moderated by a moderator
Snappahead
Guest
At the risk of upsetting my Roatan dive comrades I would like to point out some problems we experience on Utila with Roatan dive boats and whale shark excursions coming to Utila to encounter whale sharks. These problems affect not only the whale shark/dive business on Utila but also, and more importantly from my POV, adversely affect the whale sharks that come here.
I hope we can maybe start a new discussion about this rather than get into arguments - as I said I don't mean to upset anyone, I simply see an opportunity to discuss these things and maybe make whale shark encounters better for everyone AND the whale shark. Moderator - you may well want to move this to a new thread?
Each year whale sharks become harder to encounter for decent encounter times (i.e. longer than just to see a tail fin disappear into the depths). This is probably because they are getting more and more pressure on them from encounter boats. For this reason (and plenty of others) we have a set of encounter guidelines which have been developed in consultation with Utila dive centers, the Utila Whale Shark and Oceanic Research Center, local fisherman, the Bay Islands Conservation Association, Utila Center for Marine Ecology, and a collection of other interested parties. They have been published by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (SERNA) and General Directorate of Biodiversity (DiBio), and financed by the United Nations Development Program and The Nature Conservancy.
This process has taken place over a 2 year period, including consultation from Holbox and Belize where pro-active guidelines to encounter whale sharks are already successfully implemented.
Most dive centers and encounter boats respect and work well with the guidelines (in fact most dive centers were already behaving well in respect to the guidelines before they were published).
The problem is when encounter boats come from Roatan we repeatedly see a complete disrespect (or hopefully just ignorance) of the guidelines. I have myself, on several occasions seen Roatan boats drive straight over the top of whale sharks very close to the surface. This is not only dangerous to the whale shark but is only going to encourage it to dive deeper and if this happens repeatedly will no doubt cause the shark to move away from the area completely - to where it can eat without being disturbed in such a dramatic fashion.
The next issue is that the guidelines call for a queuing system of encounter boats to prevent one whale shark being inundated with snorkelers and boats (which also becomes dangerous to the shark again). Repeatedly we see Roatan boats through (I hope) ignorance of the guidelines drive straight through the queue to the whale shark boil.
Finally we limit ourselves to 2 encounters with one shark and a maximum contact time of 30 minutes. The whale shark is here to feed and more/longer encounters prevent the shark from relaxing and feeding properly. So what happens then? They go somewhere else! When boats come from a long distance the pressure is on the boat captain to spend longer and give more encounters.
If you want the longest and the best encounters and if you want to be sure of encountering, and you want to do right, then the best place to do this is Utila. This is not a marketing ploy by me, it is simply a statement of the truth. The boat captains and encounter/dive staff are very experienced in whale shark encounters. A good boat captain can, the majority of the time, predict where the shark will start to come close to the surface again thereby removing the necessity to be moving the boat quickly into place for an encounter. Typically drifting with the engine off by the time the shark is back to the surface.
If you do go from Roatan please make sure your operator knows and understands the guidelines and actually implements them to the benefit of the whale shark. It is easy to tell the difference between an encounter with a relaxed shark and a stressed shark - as soon as you see it you'll know! I'm not trying to say all the dive centers on Utila are saints in this respect, but you can easily discover the ones that implement the guidelines. In fact most if not all are very good and have self policed encounters for a long time now. Boat captains realize that the shark has gotta eat as well and after 2 or 3 encounters have traditionally left the shark alone.
The guidelines also cover techniques for entering the water, photography, swimmer distance from the whale shark (safety), and what kind of staff it is necessary to have on board for a safe and whale shark aware encounter.
The other thing that helps a lot is that most whale sharking here is done either before, between or after dives (but before the boat returns to the dive center). This naturally limits the amount of time a boat will stay on the shark as it will be returning from the mornings dives or heading to the next dive site.
Lets please work together to keep a happy and present whale shark population in the Bay Islands and respect the guidelines when it comes to whale shark encounters. If we all do then we will all eventually benefit.
Thanks!
Rob
I hope we can maybe start a new discussion about this rather than get into arguments - as I said I don't mean to upset anyone, I simply see an opportunity to discuss these things and maybe make whale shark encounters better for everyone AND the whale shark. Moderator - you may well want to move this to a new thread?
Each year whale sharks become harder to encounter for decent encounter times (i.e. longer than just to see a tail fin disappear into the depths). This is probably because they are getting more and more pressure on them from encounter boats. For this reason (and plenty of others) we have a set of encounter guidelines which have been developed in consultation with Utila dive centers, the Utila Whale Shark and Oceanic Research Center, local fisherman, the Bay Islands Conservation Association, Utila Center for Marine Ecology, and a collection of other interested parties. They have been published by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (SERNA) and General Directorate of Biodiversity (DiBio), and financed by the United Nations Development Program and The Nature Conservancy.
This process has taken place over a 2 year period, including consultation from Holbox and Belize where pro-active guidelines to encounter whale sharks are already successfully implemented.
Most dive centers and encounter boats respect and work well with the guidelines (in fact most dive centers were already behaving well in respect to the guidelines before they were published).
The problem is when encounter boats come from Roatan we repeatedly see a complete disrespect (or hopefully just ignorance) of the guidelines. I have myself, on several occasions seen Roatan boats drive straight over the top of whale sharks very close to the surface. This is not only dangerous to the whale shark but is only going to encourage it to dive deeper and if this happens repeatedly will no doubt cause the shark to move away from the area completely - to where it can eat without being disturbed in such a dramatic fashion.
The next issue is that the guidelines call for a queuing system of encounter boats to prevent one whale shark being inundated with snorkelers and boats (which also becomes dangerous to the shark again). Repeatedly we see Roatan boats through (I hope) ignorance of the guidelines drive straight through the queue to the whale shark boil.
Finally we limit ourselves to 2 encounters with one shark and a maximum contact time of 30 minutes. The whale shark is here to feed and more/longer encounters prevent the shark from relaxing and feeding properly. So what happens then? They go somewhere else! When boats come from a long distance the pressure is on the boat captain to spend longer and give more encounters.
If you want the longest and the best encounters and if you want to be sure of encountering, and you want to do right, then the best place to do this is Utila. This is not a marketing ploy by me, it is simply a statement of the truth. The boat captains and encounter/dive staff are very experienced in whale shark encounters. A good boat captain can, the majority of the time, predict where the shark will start to come close to the surface again thereby removing the necessity to be moving the boat quickly into place for an encounter. Typically drifting with the engine off by the time the shark is back to the surface.
If you do go from Roatan please make sure your operator knows and understands the guidelines and actually implements them to the benefit of the whale shark. It is easy to tell the difference between an encounter with a relaxed shark and a stressed shark - as soon as you see it you'll know! I'm not trying to say all the dive centers on Utila are saints in this respect, but you can easily discover the ones that implement the guidelines. In fact most if not all are very good and have self policed encounters for a long time now. Boat captains realize that the shark has gotta eat as well and after 2 or 3 encounters have traditionally left the shark alone.
The guidelines also cover techniques for entering the water, photography, swimmer distance from the whale shark (safety), and what kind of staff it is necessary to have on board for a safe and whale shark aware encounter.
The other thing that helps a lot is that most whale sharking here is done either before, between or after dives (but before the boat returns to the dive center). This naturally limits the amount of time a boat will stay on the shark as it will be returning from the mornings dives or heading to the next dive site.
Lets please work together to keep a happy and present whale shark population in the Bay Islands and respect the guidelines when it comes to whale shark encounters. If we all do then we will all eventually benefit.
Thanks!
Rob
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This is an unfortunate facet of the Bay Islands that is lost on most casual visitors.
What some first timers see as frightening, others who have been there a few times begin to understand the hows and whys of the way things appear. You aint in Kansas anymore.
As we get more and more accustomed to the Bay Islands with repeated trips, we learn that in some areas, you really have to select words with great care, and try to tell the entire story. Still hoping that "most" will bother to read it.
In this example: The Top Ten Reasons to Skip Driving on Roatan.... Sure, it's been stated twenty times (but refer to the above paragraph, second sentence).
- Bad road surfaces
- No street lighting
- No reflectors
- Likelihood of rain and heat treated rubber windshield wipers
- Errant critters, people and bicyclists
- Unusual driving patterns including stopping dead for no apparent reason
- Lack of brake lights on above mentioned vehicle
- Excellent rental fleets that turn to crap by the time of your trip
- No Hospitals (or Trauma Centers... what's that?) that you could identify as such
- The Honduran theory of NorteAmericano Tort Liability
After maybe twenty trips, or after having lived on island as a resident, things look a bit different and you start to see differently... certainly you begin to see how noobs react to what you accept as the norm.
It's about a 45 minute ride there, something most FIBR/CCV guests do only once during any given stay. Just down East from FIBR by 10 minutes is a delightful place called "The View" which offers some nice Caribbean Fusion dishes as well as a spectacular view of the Sunset. You can get a cab there after the afternoon dive and make it back in time for a night dive.
By then it's too late to decide which operator you charter with.
Scuba Board is a lousy place to get cowboy dive operators to come to heel in regards to reef preservation. Hit them in the pocketbook.
To your point then... I absolutely agree that the best way to see Whale Sharks is to go to Utila in the appropriate months and spend a week with a Whale Shark oriented dive op... you guys are among the leaders. Realistically speaking though, most people do not want to do this. Since we're all being honest here, I (and many) think the general diving on Utila is a step or two down, there isn't much to do (no "West End"... yet) so the question still remains: How do you get the great bulk of Bay Island visitors who only travel to Roatan (for whatever reason) to go with charters who play nice?
Name names. Who are the bad guys?
As you say, we can't know until it's too late.
It's only a matter of days before new Whale Shark dive charters pop up on Utila that will drop to the lowest common denominator of behaviors. Need an example? Look at Mary's Place. Anyone who is really familiar with that will smile knowingly. Dollars will prevail.
The reefs are in startling decline everywhere. What we are seeing in the Bay Islands is a place that is relatively easy to get to, and is being inundated by visitors. The downward spiral I witnessed on Cayman in 1970>1985 (15 years) occurred on the most fragile and unique reefs of Roatan in an accelerated 7 year period.
It's almost too late. Tell us who to avoid.
Maybe we just shouldn't go near the Whale Sharks at all.
What a concept.
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Please try to misquote the entire line next time:
While at AKR You're only a short cab ride away from the West End also if you get tired of the food at FIBR.
Steve, I do not know if you are kidding, joking or whatever but your posts seem quite innapropriate, Maybe its me but i just prefer them to be accurate. Perhapse your post was misread by Roatanman, perhapse not, I am not one to judge but please answer the post below if you really meant that West End was a good option for people after the AKR dive. Or maybe you will just move this post elswhere, who knows.
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Also if you get tired of the food at FIBR ..What?????
Perhapse this is meant to mean that after a full day out and most likely being tired, in need of a shower and change of clothes that its a good idea to then visit West End rather than head "home" because your closer? Personally if I were to head away from any resort for the nightlife/dining it would not be just after visiting another resort and doing a few dives without the convenience of stopping back at my room. What are we to do, carry the cameras and dive equipment with us when we leave AKR and head to West End? I do not recall seeing drying racks at any of the restaurants I have visited. PLEASE, tell us what you do with your stuff if you really think this is a good option. Maybe you rent gear and have no camera but for most here that would be a problem
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