Donsol maintains policy vs feeding of whale sharks By Danny O. Calleja DONSOL, Sorsogon, Nov. 26 (PNA) –- The local government here has rejected the clamor for a reversal in its policy of not feeding the whale sharks. “Man feeding these enormous sea mammals that serve as our natural treasure and tourism wonder would not help as it could make them food beggars which we cannot allow. Let us leave them alone in their natural way of finding their own food—the reason why they are here,” town mayor Josephine Alcantara-Cruz declared on Wednesday. She made the declaration amid suggestions and clamors for the whale sharks to be offered food as what is being done in Oslob, Cebu, to make the giant creatures rise to the water surface for the amusement of tourists. This Oslob practice has earned flak from marine environmentalists and wildlife conservationists who fear disruption of the whale sharks’ natural life and migratory character. Cruz warned that no one from among those concerned with the welfare and conservation of the whale sharks allows this feeding practice on the ground that feeding might make them dependent on handouts from people. This species of giant sea mammals, scientifically called Rhincodon typus, is a slow-moving filter-feeding shark and the largest extant fish species reaching as big as 13 meters in body length and weighs more than 21 metric tons. The whale sharks are migratory in nature but some of them have adopted the Donsol waters as residence. “We have eight resident butandings (as it is called locally) which have been staying in our waters for decades without being feed. We never want to do an Oslob just to make them appear in the water surface for the delight of watchers,” the lady mayor said. Besides, these animals are friendly that they voluntarily surface and have been used to interacting with humans while feeding themselves of plankton that are seasonally abundant in the local coastal water, she stressed. Last year, Cruz said, 40 visiting whale sharks joined their eight local counterparts at the local sanctuary to the excitement of around 60,000 tourists and visitors who arrived even as the season was cut short by their early disappearances due to the intense heat of summer. They cut the peak season by about a month by leaving in early May last year to find cooler waters elsewhere. The eight locals temporarily joined the original residents of the Manta Bowl, a normal attitude of these sea mammals every time the temperature of waters here goes unbearable for them. “Perhaps this year, our butandings are making up for their early absence last year, that is why they are now around drawing tourists this early and we are ready,” she said. For this season, the municipality has prepared additional facilities for the convenient stay of tourists around the coastlines. Roads have been improved, transportation assured round-the-clock and more interaction assistants have been trained to attend to their needs. For the “gentle giants,” what the municipality has in store is the Whale Shark Code of Conduct (WSCC) that would ensure the protection of this endangered marine mammals as well as the safety of people, mostly tourists fascinated by having close underwater encounters with them. The code, formulated in 2011 by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources regional office for Bicol through the assistance of the National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council-Programme Management Centre, is fully enforced 24/7 and all year round, the mayor said. Its formulation was inspired by international policies and actual experiences here which is known as the “Whale shark Capital of the World.” Apart from the “dos and don’ts” in dealing with the butandings, the code also carries with it the Standard Operating Protocol in responding to standing incidents of the giant marine mammal and similar species. The protocol was put together by the World Wildlife Fund-Philippines, Fisheries Regional Emergency Stranding Response Team, Department of Tourism, Regional Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Council and Donsol municipal government, among others. According to Cruz, “diving with whale sharks in their natural environment is a breathtaking and rewarding experience as this world’s biggest fish glides slowly but gracefully past, resplendent in its dappled skin, within touching distance and impassive to the presence of the onlooker.” Thousands of divers seek out this opportunity here annually and the WSCC guides them how for their own safety and that of the butandings. While whale sharks are passive creatures, they can be agitated by any form of aggression such as being touched or chased that is why in the code, these behaviors are strictly forbidden. Inasmuch as it is a diver’s responsibility as anyone’s to ensure the survival of whale sharks for future generations, Cruz said, causing minimal disturbance to the sharks when approaching it by boat or when diving should also be observed, according to the Code. The WSCC also warns that although whale sharks are harmless, their sheer size makes it necessary for the divers to exercise caution around them, especially at the tail end. “We do not just protect the butandings but we pamper them here not only because they are among the rare marine species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature but they also help a lot the country’s tourism industry, in general, and ours, in particular,” according to Cruz. Pampering does not mean feeding them but allowing them to enjoy the abundance of plankton in our waters by themselves, she insisted. From an obscure, sleepy fourth class municipality, this town has been accelerated to first class two years ago owing to the tremendous gains of its tourism sector in 16 years after the presence of butandings in its waters was officially discovered in 1998. (PNA) LAP/FGS/DOC/CBD/
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 12:31:29 +0000
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