Effects of provisioning ecotourism activity on the behaviour of white sharks Carcharodon carcharias

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 338:199-209 (2007) - doi:10.3354/meps338199 Effects of provisioning ecotourism activity on the behaviour of white sharks Carcharodon carcharias R. Karl Laroche1,*, Alison A. Kock2,3, Lawrence M. Dill1, W. Herman Oosthuizen4 1Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada 2Shark Research Centre, Iziko South African Museum, P.O. Box 61, Cape Town 8001, South Africa 3Department of Zoology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa 4Marine and Coastal Management Branch, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Private Bag X2, Roggebaai 8012, South Africa *Email: krl@sfu.ca ABSTRACT: Ecotourism operations which provide food to large predators have the potential to negatively affect their target species, by conditioning them to associate humans with food, or by generally altering their behavioural patterns. This latter effect could have potentially detrimental consequences for the ecosystem inhabited by the predator, because any behavioural changes could affect the species with which they interact. We present the results of an experimental study conducted from June to October 2004, which examined the effects of provisioning ecotourism on the behaviour of white sharks around a seal colony on a small island in South Africa. Although ecotourism activity had an effect on the behaviour of some sharks, this was relatively minor, and the majority of sharks showed little interest in the food rewards on offer. It is unlikely that conditioning would occur from the amount of ecotourism activity tested, because even those sharks identified supplying most of the data presented here (which may be more strongly predisposed towards conditioning, as their persistence around the boat is what allowed them to be identified) showed a nearly ubiquitous trend of decreasing response with time. Furthermore, even the sharks frequently acquiring food rewards typically stopped responding after several interactions. Consequently, moderate levels of ecotourism probably have only a minor impact on the behaviour of white sharks, and are therefore unlikely to create behavioural effects at the ecosystem level. KEY WORDS: Provisioning ecotourism · White shark · Behavioural effects · Indirect interactions Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 338. Online publication date: May 24, 2007 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2007 Inter-Research.