I was there two weeks ago and you can't walk past a dive shop without seeing some reference to Bull Shark dives. One of the boats we were on (with Tank Ha) dropped a small group of divers on the shark site (no chumming was done) and dropped us at another close local reef.
I did the "Cara a Cara" shark dive in Roatan - another somewhat controversial dive - where they do feed. It was a very cool experience, but also important to note that it was my first ever shark sighting. I've since seen a fair amount and variety of other sharks and for me, it's a helluva lot cooler to see a shark that's doing what a shark does and isn't being "paid" to be there.
I've had a PM discussion with Phantom about my feelings on feeding these bulls and we agreed to disagree. No matter the argument I'm against it and won't use a shop that does feed. To say this isn't about the $$ is bull shark shyte - a two tank dive on the Playa reefs usually runs about $65-75. Most of the shops that run the bull shark dive charge between $70 - $90 for a SINGLE tank dive to a site that is a few hundred yards off shore, literally <5 min boat ride. They overweight you, you kneel in the sand and watch them come in to check you out (i haven't done the dive but have talked to shops about how they run the dive and seen the videos).
From what I've read in the past year this behavior has lead to more than one incident where the sharks have come out on the short end of things, the first was when Canadian woman was attacked by a Bull in Cancun which lead to a knee jerk reaction and the slaughter of 70 sharks -
The massacre of 70 bull sharks authorized after a shark attack on a Canadian tourist in Cancun | Ocean Sentry . The other is that since they're now congregating in a concentrated space it's easier for fishermen to find and harvest them, as outlined here -
Slaughter in Playa Del Carmen Mexico « The Let Sharks Live Blog - Bulls aren't protected species in Mexican waters and fishermen are taking advantage.
So to me it's not so much Phantom, yes, they started the feeding and the rush to make money from it - but the other dive shops that charge more than double their normal rate for a closer, shorter and arguably easier (for them) dive certainly deserve every bit the vitriol that's being aimed at Phantom. How long will it be before there is another incident with a human that causes another knee jerk reaction and the massacre of 100's of more sharks?!? In my discussions with Phantom it became clear they do care about shark preservation and are working toward making them a protected species. If running and profiting from the dives serves to educate us, the locals and the government that these animals need to be protected rather than seen as a quick source of profit from harvesting then I wish Phantom well and hope other shops will think past their wallets and join the fight to protect. It may seem contradictory but I'm more against the profiteers than the ones who are at least trying to get the sharks protected...
