More Shark Attacks - Is Cage Diving To Blame?
The increase in shark attacks along the South African Cape coast since the year 2000 has fueled a raging debate about whether the cage diving industry is to blame. There have been a total of 21 in South Africa between 2000 - 2005 (statistics: International Shark Attack File) and nine of those have been in the Western Cape (three fatalities) where the cage diving industry is most active. This is still very low in the greater scheme of things, but it is showing an upward trend. In 2005, an estimated 100,000 people took the plunge to come face to face with this apex predator in the western Cape alone. It's fast becoming the shark-watching capital of the country. Allegation have arisen from various quarters that if you have a yen to get up close and personal to these amazing creatures in their natural habitat by using a cage, you are actually increasing the risk of an attack by a shark somewhere down the line (on a swimmer or a surfer) because they begin to associate human beings with food. It is true that cage dive operators chum the water (throw bait overboard) to attract the attention of sharks for their clients and they also use bait attached to a hook to draw the big fish closer to the people in the cage once it has arrived. So is there any truth to the argument that this is causing a shark attack upswing and should you be worried about it from an ethical viewpoint if you want to go shark cage diving yourself? Does It Or Doesn't It?I went to look for the answer at a variety of sources and found:- The World Wildlife Federation recently released a report that found no scientific link between cage diving and shark attacks.
- The Shark Trust says it has yet to receive compelling evidence to connect shark tourism with an increase in shark attacks and recognizes that, in the vast majority of cases, attacks do not take place near shark dive locations.
- In its draft strategy proposal the city of Cape Town concluded that based on research started in 1998, there is no current evidence to link cage diving with white shark attacks on unrelated human water users.
- The cage diving operators themselves offer some compelling arguments even though you would expect them to because of their bias. They say the sharks that they encounter are not resident in the area (they don't see the same ones every day) so there is not enough opportunity for them to associate humans with food.
Secondly, the bait that they use as a lure is not fed to the sharks and they always keep it just out of reach of the gaping jaws. The bait is sometimes taken but that is the exception and not the rule. Thirdly, the shark perceives the boat, cage and people as one entity larger than itself in the same way that animals on a safari can't distinguish humans inside the vehicle. It's unlikely that the shark will recognize a swimmer or a surfer as the same thing that was in the cage. And lastly, the practise of chumming has been in operation for a long time by fishermen with no controversy attached to it.
So Why Are Shark Attacks Increasing?The International Shark Attacks File (ISAF) foundation attributes the shark attack growth to the larger number of people in the water due to population expansion and other socio-economic factors.Also the time that people spend in the water has increased due to technological advances in wet suits that keep them warmer for longer so the number of human/shark interactions are increasing. In addition, the efficiency and effectiveness of discovering, investigating and reporting of shark attacks has improved over the last decade which can also account for the higher number reported than before. In a nutshell, if you do want to go cage diving you can do it with a clear conscience because at the moment there is no evidence to link it with shark attacks. Submit Your Shark Diving Adventure StoryDid you meet jaws in the flesh? How big was the shark you saw? Share your story here... | 
