Shark feeding

[love2godeep]

The ocean is wilderness and is a habitat for those creatures who live, feed and breed there. We ought to respect that.

Although the sharks on my shark feed were not hand fed, it was obvious that they were conditioned to equate large sailboat, the sound of divers entering the water, and the sound of a chase boat circling overhead = food. The dive site is used so often that a large nurse shark has become very aggressive about approaching divers to be touched and scratched. This is not normal behavior.

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Good points, hantzu. I've read through most of the posts, and would have to agree with those who are against feeding the wild sharks. I'm also against bringing peas, etc. to feed other wild fish. I'm not in favor of feeding bears, deer, etc. at the national parks. I think the principle is the same. Every year, people get killed by deer because these wild creatures are too familiar with homo sapiens. Wouldn't the same be true with sharks if they become familiar with humans?

 

[billseamon]

I agree with DocMartin. I was on a shark feed in Fiji a couple of years ago and enjoyed the experience. We are underwater tourists. My two cents is by being there we are altering the behavior of all the fish.

The feed in Fiji had a trash can filled with fish parts. The dive master hand feed a couple of groupers first, then removed the lid and got out of the way. The sharks and I believe many jacks ignored the divers and was only interested in the trach can of food.

Several years ago I camped in Sequoia. People don't feed the bears, but the bears are conditioned to the campers. One bear ripped out the window of my friend's car and jumped in the back seat to get at a backpack with nuts in it. We weren't feeding the bears, but our presence changed their behavior.

Also how much affect does spear fishing have on sharks. That seems to be more dangerous that the feeding issue. Should we ban spear fishing? Maybe another link on this subject?

 

[fgray1]

They seem to do fine them selves.
Now swimming with them was a ball. Something about swiming along side , 3 feet from something twice your size get gets your heart going.

 

[CA Diver]

No.

Not only Sharks but other fish as well. I understand that some tourist oriented dive destinations want their customers to be guaranteed to see the "Good Stuff" but thats part of diving. There will just be some dives where you will not see everything. I would rather risk not seeing everything than see fish trained to be fed by humans. Anybody been to Guam dive Gab Gab II. Greast site but the fish expect to be fed. I like to see the fish in their natural state. not like they live in an aquarium.

On top of that I agree with H2Abdy's Comments.

 

[DiveKitty68]

wow, so many opinions....I'm not an expert by any means but I feel feeding wild sharks is wrong. If you want to feed sharks or see performing sea critters then maybe SeaWorld is the place for that (even though I've got mixed feelings on THAT whole issue). I think since the jury is out on the whole shark feeding issue - good or bad - I'm going to err on the side of caution and just "say no". My mere presence in the ocean is probably enough disruption ;-)

 

[Jetwrench]

I haven't read all the replies, but I have to go with the no sayers. We (humans) have enough screwups to account for with Mother Nature without creating another one, which I believe this feeding practice will do.

Someone from Fla. Correct me if I am wrong:
While searching the web for wreck dives in Fla., I read about one (don't remember the name) that warned divers to keep their hands close in while in the company of barracuda. Apparently years of feeding from divers at this site has changed their behavior and they are tempted to make a meal out of a finger should it be available. If thats true, it would seem shark feeding can not have a good outcome, short or long term.

As others have also stated, just our presence in the water may be an impact in itself. Let's not make it worse. IMHO

 

[StingRob]

I can see the fun, educational part and the whole thing on feeding the sharks but the answer would be NO.
Feeding wild life would be another classic case of wild life being disordered by human’s interaction. Take only pictures and leave only bubbles that’s we all should do that’s what we all been taught when we learned scuba diving.

Safe Diving

 

[marinebio]

That's all we need, sharks to become dependant on humans for food... its bad enough we slaughter most of them and have already fished out 90% of the fish they eat, don't you think? We sure will do anything for a buck. Right-on StingRob.

:wave-smil

 

[mary915]

I don't agree with shark feedings because it is not a part of their natural routine and associating humans with food is not a good thing. I think it is way cooler to see them in their natural state. I personally would prefer that they swim away from me and maintain a natural fear of humans.

 

[stallion]

No

They are definately smarter than we think.

At the beginning of the month there was a attack believed to be related to shark feeding http://www.divernet.com/news/stories/shark070404.shtml

And the most recent incident is enough to send shivers down your spine, looks like the boat is not the safest place to be out on the water http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/2004/04/25/news/news25.asp