In December 2011, the UK Daily Mail Newspaper printed a photo of a man holding onto a whale shark, and the explosion of whale shark tourism in Oslob began. Day in and day out, the whale sharks make the connection of boats and food together. Photo by Shawn Heinrich of Barcroft Media. Whale Sharks have been protected from shark finning under Philippine law since 1998. Apr 22, 2015 | 1,500 words, about 7 minutes, Made next to the in Victoria, Canada - ISSN 2371-5790. After all, since us being there isn’t physically hurting the whale sharks like the dark side of elephant tourism. Which is great for tourists and the company, but not great for mother nature. We did not realize the ethical implications of doing this in Cebu. The locals who took us out on the small boats row there. Photo Source: Project AWARE affiliated with PADI. This could affect the growth and reproduction of the whale sharks if this habit continues. However, because of extremely poor interaction practices and almost non-existent guidelines, we do not advise that you visit the place. The main positive about Donsol is this – you are seeing a wild animal in its true environment and you can feel good about the choice you made. There are hundreds of whale shark tour companies around the world, but the guides in Oslob offer something special: they guarantee sightings just about every day of the year. It was discovered by accident that whale sharks like shrimp (known locally as uyap) by fishermen in the small town of Tan-awan, close to Oslob. Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines fly here. There are two places for ethical whale sharks encounters in the Philippines. He writes about wildlife, ecology, and conservation for Scientific American, BBC, National Geographic, BioGraphic Magazine, and elsewhere. Some features may not be available. According to Wildbook for Whale Sharks (whaleshark.org) – an online photo identification library that collates whale-shark sighting data – the 1,600th whale shark has recently been identified in Philippine waters. Is Swimming with Whale Sharks Ethical in the Philippines? Indeed, most of these reviews rate the experience with four or five stars, suggesting they would recommend others take part. In other words, Ziegler says, these tourists put their personal interests first, even while knowing the tourism operation is ethically suspect. “Because there are financial interests in conducting the activity, you need some counterbalance. You’ve highlighted exactly why on the face of it these “experiences” are not ethical and that behind the scenes money made from animals isn’t re-invested. While I was there, it all felt a little off. Photo Gallery About Us Contact Us Cookies & Privacy Policy. The Large Marine Vertebraes Project Philippines in particular is leading the way in research surrounding whale sharks in the Philippines. However, they get free food every day of the year for 6 hours. Here’s a thought…. In the Philippines, whale sharks are called Butanding. This is what this whale shark looked like, he was an old dude who had been around for donkey’s years and there is no telling where or how he picked up his scar. How to get there: Fly to Puerto Princesa international airport and contact your liveaboard operator to arrange for a land transfer to the port of Puerto Princesa. Any photographs on beardandcurly.com cannot be used without our permission. Happy to support the spread of awareness! This might be a country of vast beauty and untouched beaches but the people here are poor! Whale sharks can be seen in a small barangay Tan-awan, which is 10 km away from the center town of Oslob.I knew that they were feeding the whale sharks over here and read some bad reviews, but the experience was worse than I expected. Finally no sunscreen is to be worn as it is damaging to the whale shark’s skin. An adult female (named Anne) was tracked travelling 20,000km. In a town called Oslob on the island of Cebu, there are a bunch of locals who have been feeding wild whale sharks and in turn the whale sharks have decided that a free feed is an opportunity they don’t want to pass up on, so they hang around all year round for a free, all-you-can-eat krill smorgasbord! Whale shark feeding was introduced in September 2011 by a dive centre. “Before you participate in an activity like this … look into it. In the 1990s, up to 800 whale sharks were slaughtered and traded from Filipino coastal towns into the Asian market, according to the WWF. China And Hong Kong Philippines How wonderful you were rewarded with a sighting of the second whale shark, that must have been incredible to see, great photos and what a brilliant life experience!! All photography on this website is our own unless specified. Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. So is it unethical to pay these people to continue feeding the whale sharks all year round for the benefit of attracting tourists? How to get there: Fly to the Daniel Z. Romualdez airport in Tacloban, before taking a three-and-a-half-hour drive down to southern Leyte. 12 countries, hundreds of towns and cities and well over 40,000KM covered - 2013 has been quite a year for travel! I couldn’t see it; I was looking all around into the blue - then there it was. Sharks would try to eat the bait from their fishing line so the fishermen would lure the whale sharks away from their boats by giving them small amounts of uyap. Many people are not aware of the cosmetics have on the environment. Photo by Steve De Neef. Be a more informed tourist, and be careful where you spend your tourist dollars.”. Nor do they know for certain how swimming alongside as many as 2,000 tourists each day, while gulping down massive amounts of easily available shrimp, is affecting the sharks’ physiology or behavior. Whale sharks should eat their natural way! International Whale Shark Day has been celebrated annually on 30 August since 2012. They swim by moving their bodies side to side, unlike other sharks who swim using their tail. Once I was in the water with the gentle giants, it felt completely wrong. And we should close all zoos and let the animals roam free. Here, the whale sharks are protected and only snorkeling is allowed. Note: You may have heard of Oslob being the best place in the Philippines to spot whale sharks. This means that the Philippines is home to the second-largest known aggregation of whale sharks in the world! I’d care to find out some additional information. They also have the difficult task of juggling marine conservation, local community development, education initiatives and Philippine bureaucracy. As with many sea creatures the whale sharks follow a migration pattern every year and the best time to take a dip with one of theses friendly giants of the sea is from March to June. Yet the tourists who visit Oslob seem to assent to the practice. From sunrise to sunset the bay is a clutter of tiny bamboo boats, leaked petrol, fisherman, divers, and over-enthusiastic swimmers trying to get their hands on the world’s biggest fish. entire list that you can grab from Stream2Sea. New posts will not be retrieved. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time. Another great article for more information to swimming with whale sharks in an ethical way is Don’t Forget to Move‘s article. The Philippines has many attractions on offer: white sandy beaches, stunning coral reefs, and the rare opportunity to swim with sharks… ok it’s whale sharks so there is no element of danger to be had, BUT it’s still a super cool experience. One day, we'll spot one, too! The Philippine government has not yet determined the legality of whale shark feeding, but it has recently begun to explore the matter. The gentle giant of the ocean and the largest fish in the world. Before I discuss our ethical swimming with whale shark experience, I would like to share information about other whale watching experiences in the Philippines that are not ethical. But, of the commenters who referenced ethical considerations in their reviews, more than two-thirds justify their participation as a guilty pleasure. Will definitely share this post though as I am sure there are people who don’t realise the situation. Do you think swimming with the whale sharks is ethical? Accessible via liveaboard and only for three months a year (mid-March through mid-June), Tubbataha comprises two coral atolls and the Jessie Beazley Reef, a coral structure and dive site located about 20km north of the atolls.
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