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David Loh / Reuters
A juvenile whale shark approaches a feeder on a paddleboat off the beach of Tan-awan, Oslob, in the southern Philippines island of Cebu February 28.
David Loh / Reuters
Whale sharks looking for food approach paddleboats off the beach of Tan-awan, Oslob, in the southern Philippines island of Cebu, March 1.
David Loh / Reuters
A whale shark approaches a feeder boat off the beach of Tan-awan, Oslob, in the southern Philippines island of Cebu March 1.
David Loh / Reuters
Snorkelers swim next to a whale shark as it approaches a feeder boat off the beach of Tan-awan, Oslob, in the southern Philippines island of Cebu March 1. Tan-awan, in the southern Philippines island of Cebu, used to be a sleepy village that never saw tourists unless they were lost or in transit. Yet now they flock there by the hundreds - to swim with whale sharks, the world's largest fish. Whale sharks are lured to the Tan-awan coastline of the Oslob district by fishermen who hand feed them small shrimp, drawing divers and snorkelers to see the highly sought-after animals, known as gentle giants of the sea. But the practice has sparked fierce debate on the internet and among biologists, who decry it as unnatural.
By David Loh, Reuters
Tan-awan, in the southern Philippines island of Cebu, used to be a sleepy village that never saw tourists unless they were lost or in transit. Yet now they flock there by the hundreds - to swim with whale sharks, the world's largest fish.
Whale sharks are lured to the Tan-awan coastline of the Oslob district by fishermen who hand feed them small shrimp, drawing divers and snorkelers to see the highly sought-after animals, known as gentle giants of the sea.But the practice has sparked fierce debate on the internet and among biologists, who decry it as unnatural.
"Some people are asking that we stop feeding, but if we stop feeding, what is our livelihood?" said Ramonito Lagahid, vice chairman of the Tan-awan Oslob Sea Warden and Fishermen Association (TOSWFA). "We have to go back to fishing." Continue reading.
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So running multimillion dollar aquariums with captured sea creatures is perfectly fine, but some poor fishermen tossing out some shrimp for tourism is bad? So effing hypocritical.
From the pictures it doesn't look like the amount of "bait" is going to effect the ecosystem. Usual environmentalist over reaction about nothing
I'm glad that biologists are concerned, but it seems they are overreacting before any investigation.
I far prefer what they are doing to what would be the Japanese fisherman's treatment of whale sharks.
This place is awesome check out this video
Been to this place back in January, as a Padi instructor i was expecting the worse but what i see was harmless and creating revenue for the locals,, strict guidelines are in place and no harm to these whales,, i did a video see here !!!!!enjoy!!!
It didn't let me link the video "diving with whale sharks in oslob cebu using intova HD sport 1080p" on you tube
Hello Good day you have a good blog site!
Whalesharks in the Philippines