Oslob Controversy

[klausi]

Hi All - I have compiled a few arguments and counter arguments regarding the whale shark feeding in Oslob, Cebu.

It's all here.

In short, I believe that a lot of the arguments against the whale shark feeding are unscientific and emotional; there are indeed some real issues with the feeding, but they are minor in relation to the benefit of the shark tourism: that locals have a motivation to let the sharks live!

 

[Tippytoes12]

Well said...we have been to Oslob twice and loved it. Fishermen have been using bait for centuries to attract fish to kill them....now extremely poor people are using bait to attract the whale sharks s tourists can take pictures of them...simplistic I know , but definitely three-year of two evils IMVHO.

 

[Wiggsy]

mmm...Maybe......I've done it twice. Once when it first started up in 2012 and once last July. Things have gone downhill as regards management IMHO. In 2012 the feed stations were dispersed along the coast around 300-400 metres apart and the impacts were thus also dispersed. Each one had one or two feeder canoes and it was all fairly tranquil and beautiful There were three or four small clusters of canoes with around 20-30 snorkellers in the water. It was not crowded as such and quite safe. But in July 2015 we found one large ring of canoes all lashed together in a circle with maybe 70-100 snorkellers and several feeder canoes with quite a lot of traffic. Boatmen yelling at snorkellers to get out of the way; snorkellers dodging the bows of the canoes in choppy conditions; boatmen yelling at snorkellers to get out of the path pf the whale sharks. It was fairly chaotic and not well managed for either the humans or the whale sharks. By focussing it all in one feeding station, congestion and negative impacts are more concentrated. I think this is more run for economic efficiency than environmental management.

 

[aumexican]

I'm another one for the positive camp.
Ive done Donsol where they are not fed. The chasing in a boat and all piling in the water in the path of the shark, which wants to swim away, in my opinion is worse.
In Oslob the sharks seemed fine to come and go as they pleased, it was all much calmer.

 

[xrcjdx]

isn't it interesting all the positives are human-centric.

 

[klausi]

Thank you for your interesting feedback!

I have been visiting Oslob since 2014 and can't judge how conditions were previously. I heard a number of observations, though, that rule enforcement became more stringent, and that crass misbehavior (shark grabbing) became much less. I mostly went to Oslob during the week, and avoided peak days (Easter).

I completely agree with you that proper management is key for a wildlife aggregation site like Oslob, and that the management could be improved. The whale shark encounters there are by no means ideal - but my point was that the economic incentive to let the sharks live is worth gold, and that a lot of the supposed detrimental effects are not supported by any scientific studies at all.

mmm...Maybe......I've done it twice. Once when it first started up in 2012 and once last July. Things have gone downhill as regards management IMHO. In 2012 the feed stations were dispersed along the coast around 300-400 metres apart and the impacts were thus also dispersed. Each one had one or two feeder canoes and it was all fairly tranquil and beautiful There were three or four small clusters of canoes with around 20-30 snorkellers in the water. It was not crowded as such and quite safe. But in July 2015 we found one large ring of canoes all lashed together in a circle with maybe 70-100 snorkellers and several feeder canoes with quite a lot of traffic. Boatmen yelling at snorkellers to get out of the way; snorkellers dodging the bows of the canoes in choppy conditions; boatmen yelling at snorkellers to get out of the path pf the whale sharks. It was fairly chaotic and not well managed for either the humans or the whale sharks. By focussing it all in one feeding station, congestion and negative impacts are more concentrated. I think this is more run for economic efficiency than environmental management.

 

[Maverick17]

isn't it interesting all the positives are human-centric.

Yeah I'm sure the whalesharks are so disappointed to be alive! :confused6:

Really though, I think that humans, other creatures, and the whalesharks themselves all benefit. Every conservation project for animals involves human interaction, and often human dependency to some degree. Are you against saving the Salmon in my neck of the woods, because the humans help them? I would hope that these butanding are reproducing and it will help their numbers go up.

And frankly to be practical, when you are struggling to feed your kids, you don't really worry about what people from some other country say about your way of life. So if the locals usually kill and eat/use the butandings, and this keeps them alive, then it's silly to argue against it in my opinion. Alive vs Dead is not much of a debate.