A Case Study on the Whale Sharks of Donsol, Sorsogon, Philippines

Skomal introduces his claim by sharing an anecdote of an early incident taken place in the 1950’s of two fishermen that killed a “potential menace” (Skomal). His strong language evokes a creature. Most importantly, he uses the word “potential”. We don’t know for a fact if the shark was out to seek harm or just innocently swimming around the ocean without any intentions. Flash forward to fifty years later, he shares a part he was involved in by rescuing a shark from the same area. These two contradicting events help support his argument about our attitudes toward the shark over the decades.

The article “Saving The Great White Monster” describes the alarming concerns about the cause and effect relationship about the rapid killing of the shark population. Shark fins are in more demand and there has been an increase in shark killings. The shark population is rapidly decreasing. More awareness is now being brought to this heartbreaking issue.

Blackfish is a shocking film that reveals a lot of information regarding Sea Worlds famous known “Killer Whales”. These enormous whales are highly trained by trainers of Sea World who perform for thousands daily. The film uses the tragic tale of Tillikum to support their many claims and an investigation of the Sea World

The cause of this debate comes with the return of White Sharks to the area. Over the past few years, there has been an increase of this apex predator to our coasts like never before seen, most notably since Labor Day weekend in 2009. Five sharks had been tagged by a marine biologist, Greg Skomal, and have been closely tracked and documented since. Skomal is a key player in this research as project leader

The sharks are protected by the protection act since 1999, but Orgias (2012) reported the shark amounts will drop 60% to 95% in 50 years. Although, the decline will be slowed down by the protection act, but the increment still far less than the reduction. One of the reason is the sharks not really been protected, there are no evidence to show the sharks numbers have recovered since they have protection claimed by Wellbelove (2012). Another reason is the Sharks need a long time for pregnancy and reach to maturity period, so it is difficult to show the amounts of the shark have an apparent

The ocean is a vast biome that is constantly changing. There is much to learn about the life within, the article “Omura's whales (Balaenoptera omurai) off northwest Madagascar: ecology, Behavior and conservation needs” showed how our knowledge of the ocean and the life within continues to grow. Balaenoptera omurai, or Omura's whale was only found as a new species in the year 2003. Their are no dependable population size estimates or evaluation of conservation facts because there is not enough data collected on these cetaceans. Scientists are able apply what they learn from some of these organism to humans. In the article “Reproductive Conflict and the Evolution of Menopause in Killer Whales” scientists were able to draw comparisons between Humans and other species.

Donohue, Patrick and Log, Destin. “Sharks 101.” State and Regional Newspaper, 7 September. 2006. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 28 May. 2016.

For 350 million years, sharks have swum the earth and sought out their prey. Before the dinosaurs every set foot on earthen shores, sharks lurked in the murky depths of the ocean. On the North Shore Shark Adventures tour, you will be introduced to the Sandbar and Galapagos sharks. If you are really lucky, a Tiger shark may make an appearance.

On ABC’s Good Morning America’s Weekend Adventure special, viewers were taking to new depths of excitement and adventure as tourists went face to face with the beautiful Caribbean Reef Shark off the coast of the Bahamas. The video clip we saw showed tourists from around the world getting up close and personal with these huge, majestic fish. Participates were ecstatic after there trip down under with the fish. One tourist says, “No other dive compares to it”. How have these people been attracted to these adventure dives, and what makes these so appealing? Those are the questions I will explain in the next paragraph.

Recent studies from the article “Hammerhead shark migration gives new hope for conservation” discusses how these hammerhead sharks have been listed onto the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) since 2007, also having certain regulation about international trade threatening species going extinct. Dr. Tristian Guthridge explains the benefits of understanding the shark’s behavior and more research of where these sharks are migrating, and possibly manage the time of fishing in the areas to eliminate human and shark altercations. With the wide spread of ocean water it can be difficult to study the traveling of sharks; however, the research group was able to tag the sharks “with both acoustic and satellite tag, and use photo identification and laser photogrammetry” (Charlie Huveneers).

However, in the 1990’s and the 2000’s, the phosphorous, and subsequently the algae, came back. The amount of walleye caught per year has now become one fifth of what it was. The number of charter fishing companies has decreased by 40%. The smelt catches of commercial fisheries are now three fifths of what they used to be. The shores and beaches are now repulsing tourists, rather than attracting them, cutting down a tourism industry that earns $10 billion a year.

The theory is that rouge sharks are sharks that have chosen to prey and attack humans, and some believe they have developed a ‘taste for human flesh’. Great White Sharks are highly efficient predators and are known as apex predators, they top the marine food chain and are extremely dominant specie of sharks. This essay discuss the question, should rouge sharks be killed or conserved? The Great White Sharks population was threatened in the 1970’s and 80’s from overfishing, this caused a global concern which led to Great White Sharks are protected under the Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act since 1999.

Killer whales were first captured and separated from their family group (pods) to be put display for the public 1964. After years of research in their natural habitat and at marine parks throughout the world, it has become obvious that they belong in the ocean and not kept in captivity (Rose). The stress that killer whales feel at being kept in tanks for the general public’s amusement changes their natural behavior and makes them a danger to anyone who has direct contact with them. I feel that after so many years of having marine biologists and veterinarians studying these animals in captivity that little can be left to learn about the killer whales to justify breeding killer whales and keeping them in marine parks.

Great White Sharks have known to be a great source of fear throughout the numerous ages of sea exploration. With an average size of fifteen feet in length, it’s not hard to imagine why. They are the stuff of many nightmares, but they are largely misunderstood. There isn’t a lot of information on Great White behavior because many believe them to be an endangered species, due to dwindling food sources and overfishing. However, with conservation efforts, their numbers should rise and more studies can be done. The latest major discovery was just in 2014, which shows that with time, we can learn even more about them. In this paper I will study the sharks’ basic facts, their various behaviors, and the effect humans have on them.

Planning and development are both extremely important factors within the tourism industry and can have both positive and negative effects on the environment, local communities and tourist destinations. “Destination planning aims to limit the negative impacts of cultural tourism upon the history and lifestyles of the local community. An understanding of sustainable tourist development allows for the development of culture without loss of its authentic identity” (Maidment. T. 2012). This statement discusses the importance of planning to avoid having any negative impacts on environments and communities. Because the effects of tourism are so severe to destinations, many natural and cultural resources have been destroyed, therefore tourism planning is vital to preserve and maintain these places for future generations.