Where are all the hammerheads in Galapagos?

[laurenceh]

Great video laurence! I was going to ask if you were in Puerto Lopez, but at the end, the title says Manta. I stay away from the coat because I can't take the sickening sights of dead sharks on a beach. By catch my a**! That mobula at the end around 5:30 looks as big as a manta. I've seen Orcas above the water. I've heard them in the water, but I've never sighted one diving. I'm jealous. Were you perhaps there in 2011?

no i was in puerto lopez. i was there in 2011 and 2010. less sharks on the beach in 2011 but the fishermen told us they just weren't able to catch as many, they keep having to go further and further from shore. in recent years they've gone from day fishing within sight of land, to overnight fishing and now some are heading out so far they're gone for three or four days.
sadly they're also fishing isla de la plata on a daily basis (8-15 boats a day) despite it supposedly being a protected area. they were trawling over us as we dived even though they knew we were there. they're so confident in there immunity they use the calm waters right in front of the park wardens hq as a place to fix their nets and last i was there, they even had a fuel dump in the bay 500meters from the wardens. apparently the wardens do nothing for fear of reprisals, a very sad situation. we even saw wealthy people in big lux boats come down from manta just to fish the marine preserve at isla de la plata. yet another country with laws in place but no enforcement.

 

[DiveTheGalapagos]

That is so disheartening to hear. As I said, I can't visit the coast any more because I can't bear seeing it and don't want to put myself in danger due to not being certain I can contain my response on the spot. I remember speaking with an NGO who said they could basically only count the dead sharks on a daily basis, nothing else. It seems a lot of it boils down to resources and a lack thereof to protect combined with the culture of fishermen and their collective power to elect or kick out politicians. Almost anyone in that area has fishermen in their family, so no political or cultural will to change. A fishermen doesn't dive and think, what majesty! They think, how much will killing that put in my pocket today. I had heard they were going further out which means more and more risk to them. If only there was mental reception to realize how much less danger and how much more profit they could achieve if only they were taking tourists to see sharks rather than selling them to the Peruvians who export them to Asia. Won't happen with the existing generation if my experience is any indication and waiting for the next generation, if education and training reigns supreme over family values -unlikely, to lead the way might be too late. That there are by-catch laws permitting such atrocities on the coast doesn't help. Protection laws are irrelevant without enforcement. And as prices rise, which will continue as so many Americans retire in Ecuador, the financial pressure is only going to grow. And what 'costeno' or 'politico' is going to fault a poor fisherman on the coast for wanting to feed his family? You mean you care more about a shark than a human being?

Sorry to be so dismal, but that's the landscape I see.

 

[laurenceh]

yes and according to my friends in puerto lopez the number of fishermen and boats is rapidly rising (some estimated it had nearly doubled in the last 5-6yrs), apparently more and more poor people from the interior are coming to the coast seeking their fortune.