I think your opinions on this are close to mine.  The nature of our coast is
a bigger problem, in my mind, than the potential damage to the sharks.
Shark feeds, at least as they are done here, are done in relatively shallow
water and there simply isn't any of that around here that isn't also quite
close to a beach frequented by millions of tourists.

Lee

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Strike" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2001 10:03 PM
Subject: [SCUBA-SE] Shark Feeding?


> The talk about shark feeding started me a-thinking about my own views on
the
> topic - a subject on which I hold ambivalent views.
>
> In principle, I'm opposed to feeding fish on a regular basis and in the
same
> location on the grounds that it might create a dependency and interfere
with
> the natural order of things by breaking the normal food chain.
>
> By the same token much of what we lay-people have learned about marine
life
> has come from witnessing the creatures feed.
>
> Sharks are no exception.  The shark feeds that we've observed at, for
> example, Osprey Reef, out in the Coral Sea, have been spectacular affairs
> that attracted dozens of Whalers, white-tip reef sharks - and even one
> overly curious Hammerhead that was blissfully unaware that a camera-man
> wasn't part of the food chain!  :-)
>
> Intent on feeding on large tuna heads, all of the creatures seemed
oblivious
> of the potential danger from their dinner companions in their quest for a
> portion.  The Whalers seemed quite polite about it all, each in turn,
> rushing in to saw through a morsel before heading away, circling, and
again
> coming in for their turn.  The most ill-mannered of all of the fish were
the
> large Potato Cod that literally head-butted the sharks out of their way.
:-)
>
> After the feed was over we swam among the Whalers.  On one occasion three
> large Whalers swam straight towards me while I swam straight at them
framing
> them in the camera viewfinder.  Right at the last moment, before a head-on
> collision,  they peeled away on either side of me.  (I think Julian was
> watching - which is just as well 'cause the pic turned out as good as many
> of my u/w pics!) :-)
>
> Those occasions have provided memorable experiences that may not have
> occurred without the shark feeding.  I don't believe, for one moment, that
> we interefered with nature in any harmful way.  (And probably less so than
> camera teams filming African wild-life from the backs of carbon-monoxide
> belching trucks!)
>
> To my way of thinking, u/w feeding really only becomes an issue when the
> creatures live in small, well-defined territories, and where it takes
place
> on, say, a daily basis.
>
> Even then, when it has become an established practice put in place before
> conservation become such an issue, to suddenly cease the practice *may*
> cause more harm than good to the local population of fish.  The 'Cod Hole'
> dive site, on the Ribbon Reefs, north of Cairns, would be a perfect
example.
>
> Moves to ban the practice altogether - rather than a gradual weaning away
> from regular feeds - caused more harm and suffering to the Potato Cod who
> had flourished there as a result of u/w feeding.
>
> Strike