Shark Tourism: To Feed Or Not to Feed


  • Photographer
    Matthew Smith
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Company/Studios
    Matty Smith Photo
  • Date of Photograph
    October 2012
  • Technical Info
    AP Mode, -1stop + Flash

Shark Tourism: To feed or not to feed? Does it help us get close to the animals to observe, photograph, learn and educate? Or is it reckless disregard for our safety and training sharks to associate humans with food? Like it or not shark tourism and feeding is on the up, often taking place in close proximity of popular tourist beaches without the knowledge of the holiday makers taking a dip. But is this really a problem? One of the most popular shark dive operators has been successfully running it’s business only kilometers away from top south pacific resorts for over ten years without a single incident. Do sharks + humans = attack? Proven time and time again the answer most often no. However media hype and Hollywood has built the reputation of the shark up to have one aim in life, to bite people. However, sharks play a very important role within the ecosystem and need to be protected from the decimation they face partly due to their fearsome reputation. Shark tourism does go someway to protecting the species in some areas as locals dependent on the tourist dollars now see they are worth more in the water than in the soup dish.

Story

Shark Tourism: To feed or not to feed? Does it help us get close to the animals to observe, photograph, learn and educate? Or is it reckless disregard for our safety and training sharks to associate humans with food? Like it or not shark tourism and feeding is on the up, often taking place in close proximity of popular tourist beaches without the knowledge of the holiday makers taking a dip. But is this really a problem? One of the most popular shark dive operators has been successfully running it’s business only kilometres away from top south pacific resorts for over ten years without a single incident. Do sharks + humans = attack? Proven time and time again the answer most often no. However media hype and Hollywood has built the reputation of the shark up to have one aim in life, to bite people. However, sharks play a very important role within the ecosystem and need to be protected from the decimation they face partly due to their fearsome reputation. Shark tourism does go someway to protecting the species in some areas as locals dependant on the tourist dollars now see they are worth more in the water than in the soup dish.

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