2010 Isla Guadalupe Season Sold Out - But Wait There's More!

Our 2010 Isla Guadalupe white shark season has been "sold out" for quite a while.

In fact we have been actively booking 2011 shark diving dates since August, that's why the sudden news of a "off calendar date" that has just come on the market is good news.

Horizon Charters and the MV Horizon have opened Oct 9-14 2010 to interested divers, and we have sold 9 of these coveted spaces since yesterday.

Departures are from San Diego, Ca bypassing the traditional long bus rides into and out of Mexico.

The 2010 season is unique because of the limited loads we are taking, 12 instead of 16 divers, and for the $300 discounts we are offering to last minute divers.

Interested?

Please contact us asap, these last three spaces will be gone by the end of next week. Discounted dates include everything listed on our website including wetsuits, permits, and unlimited beer and wine.

Our 2010 shark diving season has been one of the best on record. White shark diving seasons like these are not to be missed with some of the bigger females cruising the waters of Point Norte at this time.

Let's go shark diving!

MPA Update and appeal for assistance: Maldives

In June 2009 as part of its commitment to CBD’s Programme Of Work on Protected Areas the Maldivian government gazetted three new MPA’s; two in Baa Atoll and one in South Ari Atoll. At 42km² South Ari MPA is the largest MPA in the Maldives. It encompasses a stretch of epipelagic reef that forms the primary whale shark aggregation site in the Maldives and one of only a couple of sites in the world where whale sharks can be consistently encountered year round.

Over the last 10 years South Ari’s reputation as a site that can reliably provide opportunities for people to swim with whale sharks has grown and now supports one of the largest whale shark-focused tourist industries in the world attracting between 60,000 and 90,000 visitors per year. Unfortunately despite the existence of codes of conduct, with no monitoring or enforcement to back them up the volume and behaviour of tourists seeking encounters is currently unregulated. As such tourist encounters are unsafe and invasive and long term are likely to prove unsustainable in their intensity.

The Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme is an NGO that since its inception in 2006 has been researching whale sharks and conducting community outreach in South Ari atoll and elsewhere in the Maldives. Working alongside the local community the MWSRP lobbied the Maldivian government for this area of South Ari to become an MPA and provided the whale shark data that helped to define its boundary.

Citing an acute lack of resources the Maldivian government has been unable to follow up the declaration of South Ari MPA with the actions needed to develop the proposed collaborative management structure. This is unfortunate as it is an area with a huge amount of potential. With an ever-present iconic species, existing tourism infrastructure, receptive local island communities and the successful piloting of a tourist contribution funding mechanism, South Ari has all the ingredients for a sustainable, self-financing, community led solution.

We believe this false start belies the potential of the MPA to become a model upon which a network of collaboratively managed MPA’s in the Maldives can be based. The MWSRP would like to use this portal to invite any person or parties to get in touch that would be interested in helping us to build upon the strong bonds with have forged with the local communities and the national government and help us to assist the South Ari community to source the expert guidance and funding needed to take this MPA to the next level.

Richard Rees
Director

Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (charity no. 1130369)

Maldives: +960 7542243

richard@maldiveswhalesharkresearch.org
http://www.mwsrp.org/

Dorsal Fin Scoop - Sharks in the Bay Area

The Dorsal Fin Blog got the scoop on a new media piece (NBC) on whites in the Bay Area. Tis' that time of year once again when "The Man in the Grey Suit" prowls the coastlines here:

STOP Shark Cage Diving - Target S.A

A new website is making the rounds with a familiar logo and a familiar theme.

Fear.

STOPsharkcagediving.com offers up a non scientific page of anti-shark diving hysteria with the help of a few industry generated videos from You Tube. A WHOIS search finds the owner(s) of this page have opted to remain anonymous.

Here's the homepage propaganda:

We as ocean lovers know sharks are not out to get us, we co-exist, and through conscious raising of awareness we will fight this pseudo-environmental practice making millions of dollars in the name of environmental research. We are not against research, we support boat-based shark viewing and free-diving, but we are vehemently against the cage and the taunting of these great creatures with bait to try get a good photo for your holiday album. Just watch a few of the cage-dive videos on YouTube and see for yourself, most people wouldn't even treat a large dog like that, taunting it repeatedly with food until it snaps. The only people who seem to support it are those who make a fat profit. Remember, us surfers and spearfishermen are the ones who remain in the waters daily, without a cage, and any change in behaviour is going to affect us, not you.