Swimming with whale sharks in the Philippines
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For the last two years tourists have been flocking to the sleepy village of Tan-awan in the southern Philippine island of Cebu to swim with whale sharks, the world's largest fish. Photographer visited the island to find out what was going on, and captured these amazing images.
Local fishermen lure the whale sharks to the coastline by hand-feeding them small shrimp, or 'uyam'. Visitors can watch the feeding takes place between 6am and 1pm. You can expect to see eight to ten whale sharks show up on average, but on some days there might be as many as twenty. The peak months are March, April and May.
Fees for tourists range from 500 pesos (around €9) to watch the sharks being fed, to 1,500 pesos (around €28) to dive with them (plus standard scuba diving charges).
From December to May, tourists can also snorkel with whale sharks in the bay at Donsol in Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines.
The Filipino name for whale sharks is 'butanding' and in Cebu they are called 'tuki'.
However, the practice has provoked fierce debate about potential long-term problems, and some biologists have decried it as unnatural. 'It looks like being in a zoo, a circus, looking at the animal walking up and down being fed. This is not a natural behaviour that you see,' said Alessandro Ponzo, of Italian environmental group Physalus. They fear that the sharks may develop abnormal social behaviours and that the close contact could lead to the spread of disease and parasites.
In January 2012, the local government of Oslob introduced Ordinance 091-S12, which provides measures for the protection and conservation of the animals. There are strict rules in place so that visitors do not come within three metres of the sharks or use flash cameras, and only the whale shark feeders are permitted to feed the animals.
The whale shark industry has been a boon to the local area. 'It is easier working in the whale shark area, [you] can earn a lot of money', Aikie Lagahid, 23, told Reuters. 'In the morning we take the guests out, and in the afternoon, we play basketball.'
'You should stop the detrimental effect to the shark, but you should also improve the livelihood of the community as well,' Physalus biologist Samantha Craven told Reuters. 'Real eco-tourism is something entirely achievable.'
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