Shark-diving tourism can be a controversial issue. Images of svelte, swimming females fending off assertive tiger sharks, armored divers hand -feeding bull sharks for tourists, and shots of white sharks slamming into cages: these scenes are not aways favorable for the average diver, or even the sharks.
Read MoreMexico Closes Down Great White Shark Cage Diving
As of January 10, 2023, cage diving with great white sharks at Isla Guadalupe, 400 miles southwest of Ensenada, Mexico, is permanently prohibited. The Mexican Government’s ban covers all tourism inside the reserve, including film production and liveaboard diving.
Read MoreMexico Closes Down Great White Shark Cage Diving
Not perfect, shark dive ecotourism can have negative impacts on shark behavior, with potential injury and impacts of a threatened species, including energetic and reproductive impacts. However, proper oversight by SEMARNAT, the benefit to the Mexican economy, science, and the ambassadorship that shark tourism provides, exceeds the potential harm to sharks, and may be the best solution to save and better understand them scientifically.
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