Protecting sharks through diving tourism sounds paradoxical at first. But it is actually a sustainable solution that can make a significant contribution to shark protection. But what does sustainable diving tourism look like with the predators of our seas? As a freediver and marine biologist, Lennart Voßgätter would like to dive into the world of sustainable shark tourism with you in this article.
"Blue. Nothing but blue. That's all I see when I look over the railing of our little boat. The ocean here, around the Azores and just above the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, is 800 meters deep. It is home to whales, rays, dolphins, tuna, barracudas - and sharks.
That's why we're here - to observe these predators up close and to dive with them. Adrenaline. Anticipation. And also a queasy feeling. I feel everything at the same time.
Then we go into the water.
To make the animals come closer to the boat, our skipper keeps pouring small amounts of fish blood (more information on this will be provided later) into the water. The current carries it directly towards me and the other expedition members. We lie snorkeling on the surface, in a cloud of blood and innards, waiting to be surrounded by sharks. What is actually happening here?"
Is it safe to dive with sharks outside the cage?
Before we get to sustainable diving tourism, we first need to clarify another issue. Because even if it is often claimed otherwise, sharks are not bloodthirsty eating machines that attack everything that swims on the surface. The main reason why we still believe this? We humans have often lost touch with nature.
Nature is about survival. About risk management, cooperation and efficiency. A shark that attacks everything that is roughly its size will not survive long in the ocean. A shark that carefully selects its prey, only eats what it needs to survive and avoids unknown dangers has a much better chance of survival.
Of the more than 500 species of sharks that exist worldwide, almost all are much smaller than us. Only a few species are even capable of seriously injuring a human. According to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), nine people died in 2021 after a shark attack. In comparison: Around 1,000 people die each year from the much more aggressive and stronger crocodiles ( CrocBITE ). Moreover, the reason for fatalities caused by sharks, although extremely rare, is often due to a lack of precautionary measures (more on this later) by people.
"Back in the Azores, after about half an hour on the surface, a large shadow appears in the crystal clear water below us. My pulse quickens. The animal is shy and keeps its distance. It takes a few minutes before it dares to come closer to the surface. The shark is barely visible with its dark blue back coloring as it glides elegantly through the water. We stay calm and keep an eye on it. It becomes increasingly curious until it suddenly sneaks up to within a few centimeters of us. It is a two-meter-long blue shark."
His curiosity often makes the shark its own prey
This behavior is often interpreted as aggression. In fact, it is just pure curiosity. And it is precisely this curiosity that is the sharks' downfall:
Around 100 million sharks lose their lives every year because their fins are sold in traditional Chinese medicine in Southeast Asia and because their meat is consumed worldwide (Worm et al. 2013). If you look closely, you will also find sharks dying in our supermarkets: in cosmetic products, fertilizers and even animal feed.
Countless sharks also die from Longlines, in gillnets or trawl nets . The animals often die in ghost nets - old, lost or deliberately sunk fishing nets from industrial fishing. Even the European Union has one of the largest shark fishing fleets in the world, overfishing the shark populations of the entire Atlantic. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ), around a third of all shark species worldwide are threatened with extinction. If this downward trend continues, many species will soon have disappeared.
Sustainable diving tourism: hope for endangered shark species
There is still hope to stop the sharks from disappearing – for example through sustainable diving tourism.
A live shark that is dived with is worth much more than a dead one. In many countries, diving tourism is largely driven by shark and ray sightings. This benefits the diving industry on the one hand, and on the other, the entire tourism sector in the respective region is promoted. In many regions, shark fishing is now banned for precisely this reason. The Bahamas, for example, have been a shark sanctuary since 2011 - precisely because hundreds of travelers dive there with the notorious predators every day. There are now 17 countries worldwide that have recognized their waters as shark sanctuaries. This corresponds to just over three percent of the surface of our oceans. The main reason for this is the profit from diving tourism. But this type of tourism is not always sustainable and ethical.
"The shark has now gotten used to us. It keeps trying to exploit the blind spots, but as experienced freedivers, my group and I are alert and keep an eye on what is happening around us. We avoid making quick movements so as not to scare the shark away. I dive down. As a diver, I am much more interesting to the animal. Suddenly I am moving with it in the three-dimensional space of its habitat. It sees me and heads straight for me. I maintain eye contact. We are at a depth of 15 meters and I notice that my air is running out. But surfacing frantically now would be a mistake. I wait for the interaction. We look into each other's eyes for what feels like an eternity. The shark turns away. I surface."
The new shark diving industry is leading to more and more dive sites being developed. Over 85 nations now attract at least half a million travelers to shark diving every year. Diving tourism therefore offers huge potential for protecting sharks. At dive sites, the predators are lured with bait to overcome their natural shyness. Without bait, it would be impossible to ensure interaction for divers. Unfortunately, standards in terms of safety, sustainability and ethics are often lacking. There is usually a lack of expertise and experience. The quality of shark diving can sometimes fluctuate as much as an inflatable boat in high waves.
Certain standards must be met so that we can actually do something good for the sharks instead of reinforcing their image as aggressive.
Shark Feeding in Sustainable Diving Tourism
The issue of baiting is controversial. Not all bait fish comes from sustainable fisheries, it can influence the behavior of the animals and ultimately large predators come very close to humans. For example, a few hammerhead sharks in the Bahamas cover their entire energy needs through fed fish. Accordingly, their natural hunting instinct is suppressed (Heim et al. 2020). In the Maldives, tiger sharks appear at the dive site just a few minutes before food is released into the water, as this happens at a similar time every day. Studies show that it can have a short-term influence on the movement patterns of sharks, but so far has not changed long-term migration patterns (Gallagher et al. 2015).
Nevertheless, baiting is a very effective method for protecting sharks: diving tourism increases the added value of the animals and thus brings more money into the coffers of the local population. If the diving industry in the Bahamas were no longer allowed to attract sharks, sightings would be rare and by no means guaranteed. The demand for shark diving would probably quickly decline. This makes it more profitable to legalize fishing again.
In other words, baiting is necessary to create a consistent and sustainable diving tourism around the sharks and thus indirectly protect them from extinction.
"I dive again. At a depth of ten meters, I hold my camera ready for a scenic picture of another diver with the shark. But a strange feeling spreads through me. Something is not right. I haven't looked back for a while. I look over my shoulder. Suddenly, behind me, three meters away, there is another shark. It is smaller than the other, about one and a half meters long. But it is brave. It swims straight towards me. I turn my upper body in its direction so that I can act better. I decide to swim towards it. The shark is getting closer and closer. But it is not aggressive. I notice that it just wants to get past me, follow the trail of blood. A few centimeters in front of my face, I let the animal pass. My head is empty, no thoughts. Only the silence of the open blue, the sharks and us freedivers."
Nonetheless, the interaction remains a provoked situation in which sharks expect to eat. They are designed to identify potential weak points in other animals and know exactly whether a person is paying attention and where they are looking. Sharks have a sense of whether or not they can risk a bite without being noticed. To avoid potential dangers, there are a few points that you should pay attention to for sustainable diving tourism before jumping into the water with the animals on vacation.
- What are the sharks attracted to? Fish blood is often used. Does the fish used come from a sustainable, local fishery or is it industrially caught fish using unsustainable fishing methods (e.g. longlines, trawls, etc., which often also cause ghost nets)? Is it the entire fish or are only the remains of a recycled fish used? Here, too, sustainable decisions can be made and, for example, the spread of ghost nets caused by fishing can be reduced. It is best to ask the operators in advance where the fish comes from.
- How are the sharks attracted? Are the sharks actively fed or is only the so-called "chum" released into the water? Chum is the name given to chopped fish mixed with sea water that is gradually released into the sea to create a blood trail to the dive site. Sharks have an excellent sense of smell, which allows them to pick up blood trails from a great distance. In order to influence the animals' behavior as little as possible and to limit resource consumption, the animals should be attracted primarily by chum. This way, the sharks do not eat too much, so that their natural hunting instinct is maintained. At the same time, the blood trail can be maintained for hours with only a relatively small amount of fish.
- What are the safety standards? A detailed briefing is a must, as is a minimum level of diving experience for all participants on the dive. The equipment should be shark-friendly: for example, you should dive in ninja gear (completely black or dark blue) so that the shark cannot see any contrasts. Because they are incredibly good at that.
It turns out that diving tourism can be sustainable if divers act correctly. But the well-being of animals and people can only be ensured if certain standards are met. It is up to us to pay attention to this and to keep ourselves fully informed. This is the only way that future generations can experience what fascinating predators inhabit our seas.
Article by Lennart Voßgätter:
Lennart is a master's student in marine biology at the University of Bremen and is researching the population ecology of tiger sharks. He has a passion for diving with sharks and spent five weeks on the Azores, a volcanic island group in the middle of the Atlantic, as part of a scholarship from Bracenet. There he studied and photographed the marine megafauna.
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Gallagher, AJ, Vianna, GM, Papastamatiou, YP, Macdonald, C., Guttridge, TL, & Hammerschlag, N. (2015). Biological effects, conservation potential, and research priorities of shark diving tourism. Biological Conservation , 184 , 365-379.
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