Quote:
Originally posted by Lifetime:
My take? Sharks love Americans
Liliara, you must know that Sharkfeeding sessions consist of feeding NON-maneaters. Divers engaging in such activities are strongly warned NOT to even touch the sharkfood (usually bloody fish), but are encouraged to touch or even pet the sharks as the move by. Most of these sharks are too small to actively seek out and hunt humans, and their diet mostly is restricted to small fish and anything else they can find thats small enough to eat.
Most people are'nt stupid enough to go diving with say, Tigers or Great Whites, or Bulls or Makos, but the species that they actually DO dive with are mostly harmless reef sharks, or smaller varieties.
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Some experts, unfortunately disagree:
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- With the "Summer of the Shark" rapidly approaching its end, a pivotal meeting of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) will convene on Sept. 6 at Amelia Island (near Jacksonville) to decide the fate of marine predator feeding tours by commercial dive operators.
In preparation for that meeting, the Commission is continuing its internal review of "Marine Life Feeding Guidelines for Interactive Marine Experiences (2nd Draft)" prepared by its own staff and released for public review last week in accordance with instructions laid down by the FWCC at its May 2001 meeting.
Today however, spokespersons for the Florida-based Marine Safety Group (MSG) and The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the nation's largest animal protection organization, bluntly characterized this latest blueprint for industry self-regulation as "purely cosmetic" and called once again for a wholesale ban on marine wildlife feeding in Florida waters.
"These latest guidelines are strictly voluntary -- nowhere do they mandate any change in marine wildlife feeding in Florida, nor do they provide any new protection for either wildlife or people," said Bob Dimond, president of the Marine Safety Group.
"If the Commission fails to ban this irresponsible activity, how will anyone using Florida waters ever feel safe? How will they know where dangerous marine predators are being aggregated and behaviorally altered to associate people and boats with food?" Dimond continued.
Despite the recent rash of shark attacks in Florida, the closure of popular surfing and swimming beaches, and the associated loss of tourism dollars, at least six (and likely many more) tour operators have been regularly feeding and aggregating dangerous marine animals like sharks, barracudas and moray eels in Florida waters in recent years -- in many cases at or near popular swimming beaches, surfing areas, and dive sites.
According to many experts, feeding has increased the risk of attack for swimmers, surfers, and divers who, in most cases, are not even aware that they are recreating in dangerous waters. Over the past 15 years there have been numerous injuries worldwide -- many of them severe -- to ocean users at or near marine predator feeding sites.
While shark feeding proponents have tried to justify marine wildlife feeding tours by touting them as a form of "environmental education" that dispels negative myths about feared creatures, Dimond calls such a characterization nothing more than a marketing scheme -- self-serving hype to justify commercial exploitation of wild animals.
"In fact," adds Howard White, director of media relations for The Humane Society of the United States, "the message conveyed to the public by these tours -- that it's okay to feed, touch and even ride marine wildlife, to turn these wonderful creatures into trained circus tricks in the interests of a fast buck, is diametrically opposed to the most fundamental wildlife conservation message: observe but don't interfere. Keep wildlife wild."
"It has been, and remains, the stated position of both The Humane Society of the United States and the Marine Safety Group that the feeding of marine wildlife constitutes an unjustifiable endangerment of wildlife, coastal ecosystems, and recreational users of our coastal waters," said White.
Contact: Howard White of The Humane Society of the United States, 301-258-3072 (phone); e-mail: hwhite(At)hsus.org; Web site:
www.hsus.org
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