maybe this wasnt the best idea!
We came upon this post that went kinda viral, and it echoes our sentiments to a tee!
We as a surfer-run joint will never support Shark Cage Diving, unlike many other backpackers in South Africa.
copied from Instagram;
In South Africa as kids we are taught to never feed baboons, as this makes them more aggressive towards humans.
When on #safari you would never drag a piece of meat behind the#landrover to attract the lions would you?
Then #whyohwhy do people still support #sharkcagediving? Pouring buckets of blood and taunting with fish heads on a string to tease these magnificent beasts so that you can get a cool photo. They cry ‘it’s not feeding them so it’s ok’ but isn’t soup a meal? And wouldn’t you get pissed if you constantly smelt and saw food whenever those pesky humans came out to your island, but never got any when you came to eat?
It’s all just for money! If cigarette companies donate money to cancer research does that make them innocent? Science is a slave to its donors for research grants, so don’t hold your breath on the evidence for this field.
How about we #justleavethesharksalone. Stop being chum-ps 😉
View them from boat-based operators doing their thing naturally. Don’t see anyone clamouring to get a #selfie with a #cagedlion at the zoo, what’s the difference?
Think before you sink. Your actions may have negative effects on those who share the ocean, sans cage, with the ‘men in grey suits’ on a daily basis, long after you’ve gone back to your home country with your heroic tales of environmental sabotage.
And even though there were many Likes and even more Shares, not everyone agrees. Here is an excerpt from an interesting to-and-fro relating to the above post;
From an objecting reader..
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Turning nature into a source of money, ecotourism, is one of the most successful ways of protecting a species. By adding financial value to their existence , people have more reason to keep them alive than ever before. It is this that is literally the main thing that saved the Great White shark from extinction. If you had any idea and experience shark behavior and habit, you’d realise that the sharks don’t go hungry because we pull their food out of their faces. When a shark approaches a bait it will attempt to get it until it grows tired of the situation and moves off to kill a seal, as they do. Why on earth would they get irritable or pissed in a situation like that? That is probably the most uneducated and unsupported speculation I’ve ever heard. Sharks dont get progressively more agressive as the boat visits day by day, this behavior would be very evident and is not observed by most researchers. What you see in this photo is a very rare occasion in which a very small shark, maybe 2 meters, unfortunately got caught in the viewing gap. Fish Soup? ? what a joke. The chum slick is tiny in comparrison to chumslicks that eminate from even small harbours. A shark boat is a very minor interruption to a sharks natural behavior and has very probably saved the species. Say what you want about it, and as negative as some aspects may be, the industry supports conservation and provides great experiences and jobs for many, as well as enhancing appreciation and understanding of the beautiful beasts so many mindlessly fear. I think your post is naive and incorrect.
 good for you XXXX. everone is entitled to their opinion. mine seemed to go viral! must be something in that. and it is a fantastic image to accompany some common sense. just because you make money off something doesnt justify the collateral damage. you sound like you work in the industry? i also love sharks, all of creation in fact, just hope to never end up in ones mouth when surfing. i fear humans and how our species is sooo clever we are systematically destroying the planet that sustains us. thanks for sharing your thoughts. have a great day
Of course there is something in it, nothing humans do seems to be entirely efficient. There are faults with the shark diving idistry as there are faults with using solar power. That being said, most of the people sharing your post are people with little knowledge and who agree with ideas such as that that the sharks are being fed with fish soup (chum) so operators are in fact wrong in saying the sharks aren’t fed. There were a number of them, including the one about sharks getting pissed off and aggressive. Okay, where in my entire passage did I say collateral damage was justified by financial gains? I said it was justified by a number of reasons, the majority having to do with the value of living wildlife. Your reasoning is unsupported by definite facts. How much do you actually know about the industry? sharks in general? I do not work in the Industry.
hi again wink emoticon glad you dont work in the industry makes the conversation more interesting! ive been a nearly daily user of the ocean for 30 years and have read alot of research and closely followed the SCD industry for the last 15 or so years.
so many points you make to respond to! – i think the fish soup analogy was a stroke of genius, because really, thats what it is. the cage divers go to great lengths to say they dont feed the sharks, as this is illegal and for good reason, but what is in those buckets then, water? air? nope blood and guts. – you did not say anything regarding the collateral damage, that is the attitude of the cage dive operators. – my reasoning is most definitely unsupported by proven fact! you see the funny thing about those who only believe in that which has been proven, by humans, is that how would anything new ever be discovered unless truth existed BEFORE we were clever enough to figure it out and prove it. plus, in the modern era research costs alot of money, and this usually comes from Big Industry who often have vested interest in the outcomes. the tobacco industry is a great example, no proof of the harm was scientifically proven until every last cent was squeezed before the inevitable truth came out. my worry with basing ones view on ‘fact’ is that if the truth comes out it might be too late. a great example is the ootential damage of wifi and cell phone rdition to our human electric fields. one day we will find out. hope its ok like they are telling us! a side note.. why was SCDing recently banned in Oz, where they have an infinitely better environmental track record than SA? why is it banned outright in Northern California? so out of the 3 major zones for great white activity in the world, only SA is continuing with the practice? No further replies…
Seen Sun 08:42
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