Oslob Whale Shark - News Articles

[DonCebu]

I would put money on it in other secluded provinces where there are whale sharks, but there is no media to report on them. The local fisherman her for sure killing and eating them.

Local Fisherman in secluded provinces are programmed to eat and kill anything and everything. They don't care if it is an endangered species.

Sometimes when diving close to secluded islands, the locals will row their banca boats out to try to sell fresh coconuts and shell fish, Most of the time some of the shell fish are on the endangered species list. If you try to tell them they are endangered they just nod their head up and down saying, "YES, YES Delicious, Delicious" ( of course in their local dialect )

Shellfish, Fish, Animals, Trees, Plants, what ever is on the endangered species list, is not save from ignorant local fisherman. They will hunt and kill everything, when they are gone, they will just say "All gone".

 

[guamrider]

I was just there are went to dive with the sharks. I too had many reservations on how we might be changing their habitat and I think after seeing how it's done and the interactions with both divers, snorkelers, and swimmers (day packers), I think it's inevitable that something has to change.

All I heard about was that it was divers who are disrupting the patterns of the sharks, but I honestly didn't see this at all. There were approx. 3-4 dive boats there and I only saw one diver close to the sharks while they were getting fed, and he wasn't interfering with the process at all.

What I did see was at least 10-15 snorkelers (I use the word very loosely) who had boat life jackets on holding on to the small banka boats and actually kicking the shark while it was feeding. The kicks weren't on purpose, the "snorkelers" were trying to keep their heads out of the water and their legs were kicking all the time. There were at least a hundred other "day trippers" waiting to do the same thing.

What seems to be the big concern with the dive operators that I talked to is that all of the bigger whale sharks have already left to follow the constantly changing plankton blooms, but the smaller ones are so used to getting fed they are still there. Realistically, the amount of shrimp they are getting fed is no where near enough to survive on, but if they don't follow the deep currents they just might slowly starve to death.

There was a meeting with the dive and tour operators and they've raised the rates substantially effective April 15th, but I'm not so sure that this is the answer.

 

[Magrone]

What seems to be the big concern with the dive operators that I talked to is that all of the bigger whale sharks have already left to follow the constantly changing plankton blooms, but the smaller ones are so used to getting fed they are still there. Realistically, the amount of shrimp they are getting fed is no where near enough to survive on, but if they don't follow the deep currents they just might slowly starve to death.

Well, if this is true, then the whole operation of the fisherman feeding to attract tourism, including divers, snorkelers, swimmers, is not helping conservation efforts for a vulnerable endangered species at all. If the whale sharks are accustomed to being fed, and stick around when they should move on, and could potentially starve from lack of an available food source, then what's next? Feed them more so they can survive solely from the fisherman's handouts? Wouldn't this attract more whale sharks to do the same and potentially get out of hand?

I think the situation in Donsol is better for sustainable conservation practices, as long as the guidelines are followed. I just don't think feeding the sharks is a good idea. ​