No Feeding, No Baiting, No Chumming. Keep our Sharks Encounters PURE.
A shark protection campain
Many may think: "Why not bait or feed sharks ? We don't harm, we actually are 'nice' to them, as we give them free food..."
Also, many diving operators even defend shark feeding, baiting or chumming, saying it 'educates' the public and shows that sharks are not 'dangerous ruthless man eaters', as it allows divers or snorkelers to see sharks closeby without being harmed.
Well, PURE doesn't agree at all with this short sighted point of view, which is actually a very basic excuse to develop a very juicy business in many areas in the world. Cage diving with great whites, or feeding sessions with a chainmailed divemaster handing out bits of fish to sharks, while thrilled, excited, but also often frightened divers look at it from a small distance. And even sometimes they're not scared. Well, maybe they should...
Reality is very different. Here a chain reaction caused every day by those shark feeding or baiting operators :
- Sharks are wild animals. They shun divers.
- Divers want to see sharks. So, operators attrackt sharks with food.
- Feeding or baiting attracts sharks and associates the presence of men with food.
- Sharks sometimes attack people to get that food. Even if they don't have any.
- People think sharks are dangerous man eaters.
- Sharks are killed because 'they are bad'
- Sharks are finned, and nobody cares, because again 'sharks are bad'
If you don't believe it, just have a look at these pictures which were taken during the PURE Deep South Expedition of June 2009.
Obviously, no baiting, chumming or feeding has been done by us, but the sharks clearly seek contact with the divers, especially everything that is handheld (cameras, cylinders, or just an empty hand). Clearly, sharks were fed before, as as soon as the boats arrive on the dive site, the sharks come directly to the boat, and circle there, waiting for something.
The sharks are oceanic whitetip sharks (Carcharhinus longimanus), the sharks which killed the most people around the world, as they are known to be the sharks which decimated the shipwrecked during World War Two.
As one can see, the sharks come to the divers, a bit like a big dog looking for food in your hand or pockets. But, sharks are no dogs... One diver was even 'bitten' by one of the sharks. The shark didn't bite through. On of the pictures down here shows the ripped diving suit.
Dramatic detail: on this dive site, the same day, a French snorkeler was killed by an oceanic whitetip shark. It was all over the news around the world. Probably by one of the sharks on these pictures. At the time of this dive, we were not aware of that little detail that happened just one hour before...
Many divers see these 'very curious' sharks in the Red Sea and dive with them. They think they're lucky to see the sharks. But actually this is no luck. Dive boat operators know that the diving guests will be unhappy if they don't see the sharks they were promised and which they paid for. So, a chicken or two in the water does the trick.
So, when people say shark feeding is harmless, don't believe it. They just say it because it's their business.
We, at PURE, never bait sharks. We see many. But sharks with their natural behavior, no food-excited sharks. Think about it.
So, please, don't support shark feeding or baiting and help us send the message around: "No feeding, no baiting, no chumming. Keep our Sharks Encounters PURE."
Our objective is not to scare divers, but to make them understand that the victims are really the sharks. The vast majority of dives done in the presence of sharks, whatever species they are, are magic and precious moments of immense joy, which these majestic creatures offer us. If one RESPECTS the animals and is conscient of the risks. Once more, mankind modifies the natural course of things and refuses to assume the consequences.
It is possible to dive with sharks, even these oceanic sharks, tiger sharks or even great white sharks, IF it's done while being AWARE. You doubt it ? Then click here
1 : chumming - a technique employed to bait sharks, which consists in making a bloody fish or meat soup, which is poured in the sea at regular intervals. Often used by cage diving operators.