Confidence man whale shark11/22/2023 In 2004, Time magazine voted Donsol as the best destination for an animal encounter in Asia. Since then, Donsol has been awarded the Kalakbay Award for the best ecotourism destination for 2003. At this time the community, who had no experience with tourism together with support from WWF began an ecotourism programme to protect the whale sharks. This made the news and also caught the attention of Manila based shark traders who slaughtered 6 whale sharks. In 1998, an aggregation of whale sharks were seen off the coastal waters of Donsol, Sorsogon. You will go in search of the whale sharks and if you are lucky you will see one. ![]() None of the practices that happen in Oslob are in place here. This means that there are strict rules about human interaction with the whale sharks and means that when you travel here you know that the experience you have has the least damage to the sharks natural environment. Why You Should Swim With Whale Sharks In Donsolĭonsol is a protected area for whale sharks in the Philippines. Why You Shouldn’t Swim With Whale Sharks in Oslob –.Why We Chose Not To Swim With Whale Sharks in Cebu –.Why You Should Not Swim With Whale Sharks In Oslob –.Read what others have to say about swimming with whale sharks in Oslob: And worse still you are encouraging more people to do the same if you post about it. If you are opposed to places like Sea World, but you still choose to go to Oslob you need to check your ethics and realise you are supporting an amusement park if you go here. A man in a kayak will pass in front of the boats feeding the whale shark behind him so that it follows him allowing each boat of tourists to drop into the water and take their selfie. Worse still, the feeding has made these whale sharks reliant on the boats and has messed with their natural migration pattern – we are truly disturbing the natural behaviour of these animals in a way that could seriously impact their future in our oceans.įrom what I understand when you go here, hundreds of boats go out per day and line up ready for the whale sharks. There is no protection for these animals in Oslob, no rules and as such the human interaction is not controlled. This means that you will definitely see a whale shark, sadly it might be being hit by your boat whilst a huge number of tourists jump in on top of it to get their selfie. But in fact they can, and the reason is that the local fisherman began feeding and baiting the whale sharks several years ago to bring them close to the shores and close to the tourist filled boats. These are wild animals, with migration patterns that surely means they can’t be seen year round. But have you stopped to ask yourself why seeing them is guaranteed? Oslob, Cebu has become the place to see whale sharks and the main reason is that you are guaranteed to see them. Pin For Later Why You Shouldn’t Swim With Whale Sharks In Oslob In this article I will share why you should not see and support swimming with whale sharks in Oslob, why you should instead visit Donsol and what to expect from your whale shark experience here. To give the people posting these images the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they had not researched the location in advance so were not aware of the unethical practices, however what is really disappointing is that once they have been there they still choose to post their pretty pictures afterwards. ![]() Chances are the majority of amazing whale shark photos you have seen were taken here and you probably now want to go too. The main problem location for this behaviour is Oslob, on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. ![]() Sadly many of these people are ignoring the ethics of places they visit to swim with whale sharks, in favour of ensuring that they get the perfect Instagram photo. Instagram stars and bloggers with huge social followings have began posting about their “incredible and life changing” experiences swimming with whale sharks, and making their followers want to do the same thing. This particular wild animal sighting has been made even more enticing by social media. ![]() Whilst this may be good for local economies that rely on tourism it is not always good for the whale sharks themselves. Swimming with whale sharks has increased in popularity over the last few years, and has quickly made its way to the top of many travellers bucket lists. With that in mind I added Donsol to my trip itinerary. When I began planning my trip to the Philippines, I knew I wanted to swim with whale sharks again, but I also knew I wanted to do it in a responsible way. I first swam with whales sharks off the island of Holbox, Mexico several years ago and had an amazing and ethical experience.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |