cdiver2:
Do you think shark feeding is OK or not. Reasons why.
The thing with shark feeding is that they are wild animals, unpredictable and I think that all animals can like the experiment with Pavlov-- be trained and conditioned to do things. I have heard that when divers go out to a dive site where there is shark feeding-- the sharks actually know when the time is to eat- based on whatever it is they can tell what time of day it is-- via tides, light, etc., and when they hear the engine of a boat they know that it means "basically a dinner bell", and they will start congregating. We aren't usually on the menu for sharks, but the shark feeding controversy may have something to do with some of the attacks over the years it has been popular.
What if the boat doesn't come that day, and there are divers there??? What then? or what if shark feeding is near a beach that people congregate at? I think if you can see sharks in their natural element, and get lucky to photograph them-- all the power to you. What if there is shark feeding of bull sharks, makos, great whites, etc., With more people going into the water for activities and recreation, we are entering the shark's territory, we are guests in their world, and we should respect that, we should try more on getting the idiots that kill the sharks for their fins to stop and the sportfisherman who hunt them and kill them for their jaws, or record breaking trophies.
Sharks are an important part of the ecosystem, as vultures or carrion birds are on land to get rid of disease and dead animals. Sharks are very important, The number of sharks still being killed is unbelievable, their birthing cycle is so precarious that if the senseless killing continues, they will be wiped out in a short time.
Peter Benchley who wrote Jaws is a proponent in trying to protect sharks, believe it or not, he has seen what his book and movie did to scare people into a melee of murder of sharks, and he is trying hard to change that for years, The Great White is protected in Australia, but what about the other sharks???? That's what I think about feeding sharks.
I'm sure the surfers in Florida don't like the idea of feeding sharks.
Dottie Wethington from Florida