Shark cage tours in Oahu - advice? recommendations?

[Canadian99999]

Hi there,
I am going to Hawaii this winter Dec 30 - Jan 13. I would love to see some sharks while I am there, but I am not a scuba diver (although I do plan to try snorkeling and maybe attempt some SNUBA while I am there, weather and ocean currents permitting).

I found out that on Oahu you can go out in a boat, and get into a shark cage and watch the sharks swimming around (Galapagos sharks, Sandbar Sharks, etc.). I think sharks are awesome, and I think I would like to do this, so long as it isn't disturbing the sharks - I have read that some dolphin tours are very hard on the dolphins, so I hope this doesn't bother sharks in a similar way??? I don't know that much about sharks... any information on this would be very helpful.

Anyway, I found 2 tour operators - both out out of Haleiwa, Oahu
North Shore Shark Adventures
North Shore Shark Adventures

Hawaii Shark Encounters.
Hawaii Shark Encounters Tours

Does anyone have any comments about these tours (or others)?
Are they safe for the sharks?
If so, can anyone recommend one?
Thanks for any input you may have.
Claire.

 

[smellzlikefish]

Hi Canadian-

The tours are at the heart of a heated debate. The opposition consists of a group of politically active locals that seem to simply not like the shark tours and find whatever reasons they can to back up their claims. For a while they claimed that the sharks were following the boats into shore, then they said the sharks were becoming accustomed to humans in the presence of food, and now they think we are disgracing sharks by luring them to cages. In response, the shark tours hired University of Hawaii researchers to investigate if the sharks were following the boats back. They aren't. I have been in the water without the cage and can say that they don't act any more aggressive than other galapagos sharks, and the animals don't seem disgraced at all, but do seem to appreciate a snack.

I strongly recommend the tour to any friends that come visit me from the mainland. The action is lively and exciting while the operators are far more educational about sharks than the Discovery Channel. I think it is great PR for the plight of sharks. They are the only two operators and they offer basically the same experience. They may even be owned by the same people. It is by far the most reliable way to experience sharks in Hawaii.

 

[Canadian99999]

Hi Smellzlikefish!
Thanks very much for the informative advice!
My parents are both biologists - my dad is a fish/crayfish biologist/icthyologist, so I definitely respect the views of scientists.
I am always concerned about the well-being of the wildlife, so I feel much better scheduling a shark tour, now that you gave me a good grounding in the issues.
I can't wait to see them swimming up close - I just think sharks are awesome! I am getting so excited just thinking about it!!!
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to my question!
Claire.

 

[JDiver56]

IMO, there is a variety of shark dives.

Some use broadcast chum to bring in sharks to boats; in some areas, sharks become fixed on engine sounds /vibrations and come "running". In N.E. Papua New Guinea (among other places), the sharks were then found out by fishermen, attracted, caught and finned. 12 years ago I enjoyed lots of sharks in N.E. PNG, like Silvertips (I love Silvertips!), 1 1/2 years ago there were - none! I don't agree with this kind of shark dive, particularly in unprotected waters - the dives minimally interfere with sharks' natural behavior and at worst result in their deaths. As well, divers can be threatened occasionally by free-floating chum bits - such as when this happens with hungry Bull Sharks.

Some use "chumsicles" - a frozen block of fish "parts", often secured via a line and eye to dead coral and the sharks do not tend to associate boats and humans so much with food, in my experiences with this kind of diving. Usually, the block is at lest a few feet fro the humans. The best, IMO again, take divers to these areas and only on occasions use chumsicles - variable interval intermittent reinforcement.

Some use cages, others do not. I think with some of the more aggressive sharks (and snorkellers and uncertain divers), cages may be appropriate - e.g. Whites, etc. Some species may be aggressive some places, not others - e.g Gray Whalers / Reef Sharks at Bikini Atoll are behaviorally quite different than the same species in Fiji; Galapagos Sharks were once quite aggressive in Midway (according to Jack Randall, with whom I dove Midway with), whereas the last time I dove Midway they were merely quite curious and never displayed truly aggressive behavior. (OTOH, we backrolled in the Goofnuw Channel in Yap to a large female Oceanic Whitetip, and though she was not at all intimidated by the big splash six of us made, she also was merely curious and gave us no grief - we were distinctly impressed!)

And, please do share your experience!

So, check 'em out (the dive op) and then, you must make a personal decision. You will find we in the dive community are generally quite biased, from "NO!" to "anything goes", but I kind of keep to the middle channel - I love sharks, have quite a few shark dives and treasure every encounter with them, think lots of us can benefit from learning more about these majestic predators that are so well adapted they have survived millions of years virtually unchanged and their place in nature - but I do not like it when we interfere with natural behaviors and hate it when we set 'em up for the kill so soup or whatever can be made of them and the rest of the shark is wasted, or when the show becomes exploitive and potentially dangerous for divers.

 

[smellzlikefish]

J-Diver- I'd like to add a fourth type of shark dive to your list. Many sharks naturally congregate in certain areas (Cocos, Galapagos, NWHI including Midway, Molokai). These are probably the least controversial.

 

[JDiver56]

I agree - true enough. I have dived with literally hundreds of gray whalers / reefies in Tiputa Pass, Rangiroa, and ditto scalloped hammerheads in the Galápagos (the best chances are Darwin and Wolf, which I dove for my 60th birthday, along with some time hanging out with a huge marble ray and a lunar eclipse!) and that is definitely the way to go if one has an opportunity. Natural encounters where they concentrate are the best way to go, and they are much more productive than random encounters (though I have been blessed with plenty of those as well).

J-Diver- I'd like to add a fourth type of shark dive to your list. Many sharks naturally congregate in certain areas (Cocos, Galapagos, NWHI including Midway, Molokai). These are probably the least controversial.

 

[Canadian99999]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I will let you know which group I end up with, but I only know of 2 tours in Oahu to choose from (Hawaii Shark Encounters, and North Shore Shark Cage Tours). They both use cages.
Swimming around sharks without a cage would be awesome, but I don't think I am up for that just yet, since I am new to snorkelling.
BTW, my snorkelling lesson was awesome! I REALLY liked it! I've got to go get myself some equipment...

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Just to clear up the ownership question; the two Haleiwa shark cage operators are separate businesses owned by different people.

First there was one shark cage business. The partners had a falling out and then there was two.

The younger guy (Jimmy Hall?) was videotaped outside the cage with a Great White, even "petting" it. He got a contract to make a "Shark Week" special. He was also a base jumper. Discovery decided to do half the special on extreme base jumping and then go to the Farallon's for extreme Great White-ing.

Jimmy died in a base jumping accident in Alaska, during the Discovery Special filming. Now his ex/gf/widow(?) owns that business, afaik.

 

[Matt83]

Do the dive. Weather you agree with cage diving or not the simple fact is that the more money spent on shark tourism the stronger the argument is for protecting them.

 

[deakos]

I think most of us would agree that feeding wild animals is never a good thing, regardless if they are land dwellers or ocean dwellers. However, that being said, I do think an operation that provides proper education to its clients can heighten awareness about shark conservation and thereby contribute something positive to balance out the negative. Unfortunately most operators don't run their tours that way and it becomes straight up exploitation. I have never done the shark tours in Hawaii so I can't speak to their integrity.