This is so sad... Whaleshark harrasment

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WTF

What should have been an incredible experience for another turns into a disgusting experience for me
 
The person in the video doesn't quite get it.....at least not the philosophy I adhere to......

So what? If these divers invite you to partake, you can decline.

But there's a fairly substantial gap between 'Not my cup of tea' and 'OMG WTFBBQ!?!11 How is there not a law against that!!oneoneeleven'. Or rather...there needs to be such a gap for society to get along, short of a genocidal purge to leave a single viewpoint to exist in harmony with itself alone. The Whale Shark is unharmed, and will merrily swim along doing its Whale Shark thing. All's well that ends well.
 
Watch the video again, and see how the shark's movement and behavior changes once the freediver has latched onto its dorsal fin. Regardless of your opinion about what is and isn't acceptable, you cannot deny that the shark does not want the diver there - or it wouldn't switch from its usual streamlined, effortless swimming technique to bending and twisting so sharply the way it does in efforts to lose its unwanted passenger. So to say that this has no negative effect is therefore wishful thinking. The process clearly caused stress for the shark, as if it was indeed unfazed by what was happening, it would have continued its passage without such a pronounced change in its behavior and movement through the water. Its evident from this video however, that this was not the case.
 
Watch the video again, and see how the shark's movement and behavior changes once the freediver has latched onto its dorsal fin. Regardless of your opinion about what is and isn't acceptable, you cannot deny that the shark does not want the diver there - or it wouldn't switch from its usual streamlined, effortless swimming technique to bending and twisting so sharply the way it does in efforts to lose its unwanted passenger. So to say that this has no negative effect is therefore wishful thinking. The process clearly caused stress for the shark, as if it was indeed unfazed by what was happening, it would have continued its passage without such a pronounced change in its behavior and movement through the water. Its evident from this video however, that this was not the case.

I hope you've never taken a boat out, because you'd be guilty of a lot worse animal behavior modification just by riding along the surface of the ocean for any length of time. Whether the shark was pleased to have the diver attached to it is irrelevant. The diver caused it no meaningful harm - quite unlike certain fishermen in SE Asia. Try cleaning up your own backyard before worrying about whether it's better to look without touching.
 
There are laws against it and exactly because touching them does disturb their behavior. The laws just don't exist everywhere.
 
I hope you've never taken a boat out, because you'd be guilty of a lot worse animal behavior modification just by riding along the surface of the ocean for any length of time. Whether the shark was pleased to have the diver attached to it is irrelevant. The diver caused it no meaningful harm - quite unlike certain fishermen in SE Asia. Try cleaning up your own backyard before worrying about whether it's better to look without touching.

How is it irrelevant whether the whale shark wanted it them or not? It's change in behavior clearly indicates that the effect was a negative one, and as such is irresponsible imo. As for not causing it any meaningful harm, I'm not sure how being ignorant to the repercussions of your actions make it OK just to do what you want (and by that I mean 'you' as a general term, not you specifically). Its a known fact that humans can carry bacteria which is very harmful and on some cases lethal to marine life - so are practices like those seen on this video really something we should want to condone or encourage? Personally I feel they're not, but each to their own. I am however, always happy to learn, so I would however be interested to hear how merely riding on a boat could cause more harm to marine life than, say in this case, riding a whale shark.

About us cleaning up our own back yard, that's actually something that we're very passionate about. We take great pride in our local marine ecosystem, and our efforts to maintain and conserve it. We're involved with several coral monitoring and conservation projects, and have contributed to the erection of artificial dive sites. Members of our staff participate in Shark Guardian and Finathon events every year, and we also conduct regular land and sea clean ups. We also work with the mayor and the local branch of the fisheries department to report violations of fishing laws whenever possible. Unfortunately its very hard for a small group of westerners to change the practices of locals that has gone on for hundreds of years - even though in some areas fishing on such a scale is clearly becoming unsustainable. But tainting the whole of South East Asia with the same brush is inaccurate.

With regards to me single handedly resolving overfishing in South East Asia before I'm allowed an opinion on whether I feel its OK to touch marine life or not...Well, first of all that's a bit ridiculous, and secondly I think it should be the other way around. By starting on the smaller scale issues, it can often make the bigger issues easier to understand and work towards. Also by embracing eco friendly dive practices at base level and communicating these to our divers from entry level upwards, hopefully we will create a much more aware and educated group of next generation divers who will strive to make a positive impact - on both small and large scales. I know that last bit sounds a bit eco-warrior, and perhaps wishful thinking, but at least its a start.
 
The person in the video doesn't quite get it.....at least not the philosophy I adhere to......


Neither do I, and I hope it's not contagious.
 
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