Trip Report Emperor Explorer - Bad Environmental Behavior

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PK1

Registered
Messages
42
Reaction score
11
Location
Scottsdale, Arizona
# of dives
200 - 499
I just finished a 7-day trip on the Emperor Explorer. I was originally booked on another Liveaboard, but they had a large group cancel at the last minute and the three remaining divers (myself included) were rebooked on the Explorer, joining a 10-day trip already in progress.

The POSITIVE: The Explorer is a beautiful boat with large cabins and bathrooms plus LOTS of storage space, a most welcome amenity on a Liveaboard. The crew and dive guides were super friendly and attentive and food was very good. The itinerary took us to North Ari, Baa, Raa, Rasdu and North Male atolls for 3-4 dives per day plus a snorkel with Mantas in Hanifaru Bay. Visibility wasn't great and currents were tricky on a number of dives, but that is par for the course for diving in the Maldives.

The NEGATIVE: Despite the above, I will not repeat with this operator. The reason; the tour director was tone deaf on an issue of environmental sensitivity. Let me explain. For a number of years, Liveaboard and other tourism operators in the Maldives have engaged in a practice known as Light Pooling which involves shining a bright spot light onto the water at night in an effort to attract marine life, particularly Mantas and Whale Sharks. Guests are woken up and given the opportunity to get in the water with these animals. Indeed a thrilling experience. However, there is one problem. The practice is now illegal, at least as it applies to Whale Sharks. Last year, the Government of Maldives promulgated an amendment to the Protected Species Act establishing regulations and a code of conduct for Whale Shark encounters. Among the clauses in the amendment is one that specifically prohibits use of lights to attract Whale Sharks, anywhere in the country. The prohibition was enacted due to concerns that Light Pooling may disrupt the Whale Sharks normal feeding behavior and diurnal pattern.

The first night that the spot light was turned on I asked the tour director whether he was aware that Light Pooling is now prohibited. He insisted that this was not the case. So I showed him a copy of the new regulation. His response was that he had not received any such information and to basically ignore what I had shown him. Light Pooling continued all of that night (in fact attracting 2 Whale Sharks) and the next. I am aware that the Maldivian environmental authorities haven't done much to make tourism operators aware of the new rules. So I was fine to give the Emperor Explorer tour director a pass for not being aware of them. But I certainly do not give him a pass for deciding to ignore the new rules after being informed of their existence. I believe it is incumbent on the international dive community to hold dive operators accountable for their actions with respect to environmental sustainability. As it is, the Liveaboard dive industry is often rightly criticized for the limited benefits it provides to local economies, as compared to land-based dive operations. It's a shame when lack of environmental sensitivity has to be added to the mix.
 
I disagree completely. The shark's wellbeing and health is more important than a tourist's chance to see them off the back of a boat.

Light pooling is no different than chumming. It should be illegal (as it is now in the Maldives) and all dive operators should follow the laws and regulations.
 
Personally I was pleased to hear that the horrible practice around Dhangeti of dhonis, zodiacs, safari boats from resorts and every other boat chasing and dropping its customers right in front of the poor whalesharks has stopped. Two friends have been there recently on Emperor LOBs and reported that the spotting is now uw at 30ish mts and that this is very productive. Long May it last ! Over several years we saw many whalesharks with horrible injuries from motor boats and there have also been human fatalities.

As for using light to attract plankton and then WS if they’re around, well, that seems to me as a non expert a lot less harmful to them than what used to happen at Dhangeti.
 
I guess all night diving should be banned because it disturbs sleeping fish and gives predators who use our lights an advantage. And stop sinking wrecks which attract fish which end up on a fisherman's line. And make shark feed dives illegal. As well as spear fishing which can't be too healthy for the fish that get hunted. And don't get me started about lobstering.
 
Personally I was pleased to hear that the horrible practice around Dhangeti of dhonis, zodiacs, safari boats from resorts and every other boat chasing and dropping its customers right in front of the poor whalesharks has stopped. Two friends have been there recently on Emperor LOBs and reported that the spotting is now uw at 30ish mts and that this is very productive. Long May it last ! Over several years we saw many whalesharks with horrible injuries from motor boats and there have also been human fatalities. As for using light to attract plankton and then WS if they’re around, well, that seems to me as a non expert a lot less harmful to them than what used to happen at Dhangeti.

Unfortunately, the practice you describe continues unabated both in South Ari Atoll and elsewhere. Prior to my trip on the Emperor Liveaboard, I spent 10 days in South Ari volunteering with the Maldives Whale Shark Research Program (MWSRP). We undertook daily patrols, from 9am-4pm along the reefs within the South Ari Marine Protected Area, recording sightings of Whale Sharks and other megafauna and monitoring vessel traffic. Pretty much every Whale Shark encounter we observed was in gross violation of the new code of conduct guidelines. Up to a dozen boats surrounding the Whale Shark and 50+ snorkelers in the water chasing and even touching the shark. And 100% of the Whale Sharks encountered had multiple scars from propellor strikes, not surprising given the fact that more than half of the boats we logged during the patrols were traveling in excess of the prescribed speed, many of them on top of the reef. The only good news was that snorkel boats and Dhonis from local guest houses seem to be obeying the rules. It is the speedboats from other atolls, including some that come from a far away as Male, that seem to refuse to do so.

As for your comment that light pooling seems to be a lot less harmful, that is not necessarily the case. The MWSRP has documented several instances of Whale Sharks having injuries on their mouths and top of their heads as a result of bumping up against the deck platform of boats that are shining spot lights to attract plankton.
 
[...] The only good news was that snorkel boats and Dhonis from local guest houses seem to be obeying the rules. It is the speedboats from other atolls, including some that come from a far away as Male, that seem to refuse to do so. [...]
I can confirm that.
 
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