Shark feeding has put local divers at risk, DoE warns
(CNS): It appears that sharks swimming in local waters have begun to associate food with SCUBA divers. The department of environment recently received a report of a shark closely approaching a SCUBA diver who had a lionfish culling spear and empty bucket. When the diver lifted the spear for self-defense, the shark opened its mouth. The diver used the spear to poke the shark inside its mouth and it calmly turned away. The diver poked the shark again on the side of the body and it left the area. But the experts say this is a worrying development.
“This shark encounter shows clear signs of learned behavior because the shark opened its mouth when the diver extended out his spear. This shows that the shark expected to be fed with the spear,” said DoE Shark Research Coordinator, Dr Johanna Kohler. “This incident clearly shows that we have now reached a stage where sharks have learned to associate divers with food.”
Feeding sharks has been illegal in Cayman waters since 2002 because of the known risks of injury for both divers and sharks. Some people believe feeding sharks is great for business or will increase tips from customers and some even mistakenly believe that conditioning sharks to take speared lionfish will somehow teach them to hunt lionfish out of reef crevices.
But teaching sharks to take food from divers only really endangers both humans and sharks.
The past 15 years of shark research conducted by the Department of Environment show sharks naturally tend to avoid areas with high human in-water activities such as diving or boat traffic.
“Sharks eat fish so they don’t naturally associate food with humans,” Dr. Kohler added. “Sharks and other predatory fish conditioned to expect food from humans through feeding may become more assertive which puts both unsuspecting divers & sharks at risk of accidental injury. An aggressive encounter may also prompt action for the animal to be removed, but it is not the shark’s fault. This is a human-made problem.”
The DoE has received an increasing number of reports indicating that sharks have learned to associate divers with food. “This is a problem because conditioned animals behave very differently compared to wild animals,” Kohler warned.
Sharks have been protected in Cayman waters since 2015 under the National Conservation Act so it is illegal to feed, harm or kill sharks. As a keystone species, sharks are crucial to maintaining the balance of our islands’ marine ecosystems. Sharks remove injured and sick fish, keeping lower levels of the food chain healthy. They are also important for tourism and generate income for watersport operators who benefit from the high demand by tourists to see and dive with our local sharks in a natural and so safe manner.
“In the past DoE asked people not to feed sharks so that sharks wouldn’t learn to expect handouts from people,” Dr Kohler recalled. “Now, it is clear the feeding has continued so we are now asking people to stop feeding so the sharks can unlearn this behavior. Sharks are smart. If we stop offering food, they will learn it’s no longer an option. It is our responsibility to ensure we create an environment that we all can coexist in – as naturally as possible. If you love sharks, please show these amazing animals your respect and stop feeding them.”
Chief Conservation Officer, Mark Orr explained how the law protects sharks from deliberate human intervention.
“The National Conservation Act (2013) states that no one may feed sharks in Cayman waters, and as a protected species it is illegal to feed, harm or kill sharks. There are serious penalties for breaking the law including fines or even jail time. Incidental feeding however, such as throwing fish guts off a boat, would be considered different from hand feeding where a shark is able to clearly associate a human with the food source,” he explained.
There are also strict rules around the handling of potential bait while lionfish culling and stingray feeding in the Wildlife Interaction Zone (WIZ). When lionfish culling, immediately place culled fish in an appropriate container and remove every fish from the water. Lionfish should never be fed to sharks or any other predator such as barracuda or moray eels.
If a predator shows any interest in a diver or container divers should stop all culling immediately and follow safe diving practices to exit the water as soon as possible. Stingrays may only be fed squid and ballyhoo within the WIZ at Stingray City and Sandbar. Feeding any other kinds of fish will attract sharks and is strictly prohibited. If a shark does come to the WIZ, stop all feeding, remove the food and if concerned calmly exit the water.
Anyone suspecting illegal shark feeding, or any other activity prohibited under the National Conservation Act can call or message WhatsApp 916-4271 to report activity as its happening, or call 911 for emergencies. After the fact reports may be submitted with photo or video evidence of the observed activity noting the date, time, and location to the number above or via email to doe@gov.ky.
Additional information about the suspected offender is also essential and can include the name of the vessel, company, and the people involved. DoE Conservation officers will investigate every incident, actively patrol across the islands, and perform checks on boats. All information regarding suspected offences provided to the DoE will be kept strictly confidential.
Learn more at: doe.ky/shark-protection or doe.ky/marine/lionfish
See interview with DOE experts about shark feeding on Youtube here
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Category: Local News
In the shark’s defense. Doesn’t matter if the bucket was empty or not, they can still smell the blood and on the spear due to their incredible senses. I wouldn’t go ahead and say they are being fed, they just smell the blood and swim up expecting a meal. But to the diver’s defense, I’d rather feed the shark before it feeds on me…. yikes…
DOE needs to wake up and smell the coffee! This is old news.The divers have been feeding the sharks for years now! I remember in the early 2000’s a bunch of us were free diving just outside of the reef on the Southern coast and a dive boat had just left our next stop. we tied onto the bouy and hopped over and there were too many sharks! There were grey reef and the biggest Tiger shark I’ve ever seen. It was quite obvious that they were being fed.
In addition there is a popular restaurant in the Eastern district that has been feeding them for quite a few years now and those are some big sharks!
I’ve always found the crabs to be far more irritating.
Went to Grand Turk diving while Cayman was in lock down. The Dive Master there always had his spear and killed Lion fish. As soon as he did, out of no where 6-7 sharks would appear. He always fed them, and he fed a couple of grouper there as well. Said he was teaching the sharks and grouper how to hunt Lion fish. Seemed to be working as they figured out how to swallow them Seems to me to be a good thing, teach the fish how to kill Lion fish, no brainer. Sharks would come up to us when this happened, but never aggressive and was never threatened by them, actually really enjoyed the show.
Given it’s detrimental effects on our environment, scuba diving should be banned.
don’t say it like it is!
honesty does go down too well around these parts…too busy trying ban evil cruise ships and evil developers….
Given it’s detrimental effects on our environment, humans should be banned.
It’s the sharks with two legs that are the problem.
omg they sound terrifying!
Sharks can hear, sense distress, and of course smell blood in the water, and they want in on the action. That’s 450 million years of hardwiring. Anyone spearing anything living in the water, should expect a new interactive dimension to open with not subtle barracudas, and aggressive shark behaviour. Any watersports operators artificially feeding sharks should loose their T&BL, forfeit their fleet of boats, and be fined by DoE $250,000.
not at the reef I hope
At last, a natural predator to attack those incredibly annoying divers. The more shark attacks and the fewer divers there are, the better quite frankly. If I had a bitcoin for everytime my evening at an outdoor bar had been ruined by loud divers banging on about seeing a turtle (dude, there’s hundreds of them in the turtle farm duh), or what their oxygen nitrogen mix was, I’d be a billionaire. Anyway hope everyone has a good weekend, well, except divers of course. Yours, #TeamShark
*Newsflash*
Just in, people put themselves at risk every time they go in the sea whethers its strong currents, jellyfish, numbfish, the list is endless……
You’ve got more chance of winning the Mega Ball or being struck by lightning than being attacked by a shark.
Unless of course you go spearfishing….the number 1 way to get bitten.
I wonder why that is…..
Next up, “Cayman drivers put at risk every time they go out on our roads due to Honda Fit attacks, the NRA and RCIPS warn”.
hahaha the mega ball
So, pragmatic me, suppose I am freediving and spearing fish. Should a shark approach closely, open it’s mouth and offer to be fed, you can surely bet that I will.
Sharks have associated spearfishing with free food since spearfishing was invented. It is nothing new.
This Doctor is spouting absolute bollocks. Ask anyone who has ever been spearfishing! Get her to interview Randy Ebanks; there is a reason why “North Sound Boatrips” no longer exist in our waters like they used to in 80-90’s.
Every time I read this Doctors opinion on something to do with sharks in our waters it solidifies the fact she has f’all experience in our waters, nor does she go to valuable sources like the people who have spent their lives in our seas. It regurgitated text from her schoolbooks.
What’s her plan next, to ban the culling of lion fish with spears and insist people use their bare hands?
Next up from the Doctor will be the theory that fish are attracted to baited hooks because it smells like food.
Your ignorance is shocking.
yawn…what waffle…how many shark attacks on divers has there ever been in cayman?…someone at DOE trying hard to justify their position.
btw remember dive industry offers nothing but destruction to the marine environment
Yes, at the lion fish culling tournament a few years ago. Luckily guy was alright in the end but the shark was clearly used to being fed lion fish, not having the fish taken away in the bucket (like the licence says).
Just one shark attack would be one too many.
Sharks have poor eyesight and food is food to them….even if it’s got a snorkel and mask.
“Just one shark attack….”
Anyone who enters the sea runs that risk every single time they get in. It’s part and parcel of us entering another domain where we are not the top dog.
If people knew the amount of sharks there are out there at any given time swimming around them they wouldn’t get in. Our vision is pretty poor in terms of distance underwater.
You find out how many sharks there are the minute you do something to attract them i.e. spearfishing.
“Just one shark attack….”
There’s been shark attacks in Cayan, Randy almost got his arm torn off, there was a kid in a tube in South Sound who had his foot bitten, and there have been hundreds if not thousands of close calls. There have also been numerous barracuda attacks.
Anyone who enters the sea runs that risk every single time they get in. It’s part and parcel of us entering another domain where we are not the top dog.
If people knew the amount of sharks there are out there at any given time swimming around them they wouldn’t get in. Our vision is pretty poor in terms of distance underwater.
You find out how many sharks there are the minute you do something to attract them i.e. spearfishing.
Divers do sometimes negatively affect the reefs but those impacts are infinitesimal compared with cruise ships, pollution runoff, runaway development, and other factors. That’s why Little Cayman has loads of divers and the healthiest reefs in the Islands.
Shark feeding in East End. Wow. What a scoop! Next you’ll be telling us people are feeding squid to stingrays….
Oh come on. Report it? Everyone knows that Ocean Frontiers dive centre on East End has been openly shark feeding for years. They chum the water for their dives. And check out their well publicised X-Dive. Its well known, and no one does anything about it. One of their staff was even badly bitten on the hand a few years back by a shark while spearing and it was covered up by everyone as an eel bite.
What about the sharks at the parliament.
Some of them look like they have been overfed.
So safe manners are the best.
Sharks are not endangered! Time to cull them!
Textbook attitude towards wildlife in Cayman
Except of course they are , which you could determine yourself inside 5 minutes on the internet, but why let facts interfere with your expert knowledge aka personal beliefs or prejudices.
Personal observation in their environment > 5 minutes on the internet.
Come with me for a swim in our waters and I will show you sharks, we don’t have to swim 50yds off shore.
The Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi) has been protected in American Atlantic waters since 1999. But then what would you expect from the country that lists the meat of a protectes species as their national dish
Maybe in 1999 there weren’t many. But in the last 25 years their numbers have exploded. They are overprotected and there are now too many. Surely too many sharks isn’t a good thing. Everything in balance.
Furthermore, the numbers of reef fish have been decimated since 1999. So now we have many hungry sharks with not enough fish for them to eat. No freaking wonder they’re becoming aggressive and opportunistic.
It’s the fish that need protecting, NOT SHARKS!
11:54, Trinidad the problem Bobo; not us. Their national dish is shark. Go wave your flag over there.
And if you have a problem with our national dish; f**k off back to where you came from.
Also curious to know your thoughts on other cultures eating endangered species such as the Innuits (seals, whales, polar bears)?
I’d also bet my left nut you come from a nation that’s wiped hundreds of species clean off the face of the earth in the past?
At least we breed and release them, otherwise there wouldn’t be any for you to see when you go snorkeling and update your Insta.
People like you are also not endangered; actually too many…
Stingrays have also learned to feed on offered food …At Rum Point shallow anchorage.
Multiple private boats as well as commercial operators now feed stingrays at Rum Point as part of a scheduled stop in their normal day out with guests.
Rum Point is not a WIZ. Yet is continues, with no enforcement by the DOE marine patrols.
So when you see it happening, take pictures and then report the offense with evidence. DoE or RCIPS enforcement cannot be everywhere at once.
I dont think anyone has ever been fined or gone to jail for breaking any of these laws so what do you expect. I guess Cayman laws are just for the law abiding or just a suggestion.
They more suggestions than they are laws.
It’s been going on for at least five years .. you’re saying DOE hasn’t seen it happen once in all that time?? Saw a guide harass a stingray there for half an hour, holding it and handling it. This was on a Sunday afternoon, in full view of everybody on their boats. No reaction.