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Hi Jim,

I agree with the concept of what you are saying, but I get the feeling that you
are missing the point.  The action taken against shark feeding (which BTW I do
not personally support shark feeding), has nothing whatever to do with solving
a real problem.  It is purely a political move to make it APPEAR as though
something is being done.

There are a hell of a lot more people in Florida that are drawn to the beaches
then there are scuba divers.  And these people are either tourists or they
vote.  So the politicians naturally go for the larger numbers.  They really
don't care about the much smaller number of scuba divers.

Good luck with getting them to change their minds.

Take care and dive safe,      Scott

Some weeks it's just not worth the effort to gnaw through the restraints and
scramble up out of the pit.


From:   "Jim Holcomb" <jimholcomb@x-*.co*> 
To:   <techdiver@aquanaut.com> 
 
Folks need to take heed of this proposed ban.  I think shark feed dives are
dumb.  BUT, if this ban takes effect it will have a NEGATIVE impact on all
divers for sometime to come.  If these commissioners can come to the dumbass
conclusions that they did on this issue and buckle under to political pressure
and media hype, then who's next?  Keep in mind, on average more divers die in
Florida caves than in any negative Florida shark "encounter".
This proposed shark ban decision was made by 7 people in a state of millions. 
How many will it take to close access to our caves next time we have another
multiple fatality?  I suggest those of you who live in Florida
write your representatives in opposition to this ban.  As I said at the
beginning, I oppose shark feed dives - but one has to go with the lesser of two
evils in this case.

Jim Holcomb
----- Original Message -----
From: "John M. Taylor" <johnt@ca*.co*>
To: <techdiver@aquanaut.com>
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 9:36 PM
Subject: Florida panel bans shark feeding


> http://www.floridatoday.com/news/local/stories/2001/sep/loc090701i.htm
>
> Sept. 7, 2001
>
> Florida panel bans shark feeding
>
> By John Tuohy
> FLORIDA TODAY
>
> AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. - In a swift change of course, environmental
> regulators Thursday agreed
> to ban shark feeding in Florida waters.
>
> The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 6-1 to write
> a rule that prohibits
> feeding of sharks and other marine predators, including eels and rays.
> The rule will be
> considered at its next meeting Oct. 31.
>
> The action took diving tour operators, who feed the sharks to give scuba
> diving tourists a
> close-up look at them, by surprise. The commission had been expected to
> consider only rules
> to regulate, not ban, shark-feeding dives.
>
> "They basically bowed to pressure. They said let's bury these guys and
> show the people of
> Florida we are doing something about sharks, even though nobody has ever
> been seriously
> hurt on a dive," said Jim Abernathy, owner of Jim Abernathy's Scuba
> Adventures in Palm
> Beach, one of four shark-feeding tour companies in Florida.
>
> Tour captains argued that feedings are educational because they teach
> people sharks are not
> the aggressive killers they often are perceived to be. They disputed
> claims by conservationists
> that feeding sharks puts people at risk because they learn to rely on
> them, and seek people for
> food.
>
> But the commissioners appeared leery of both arguments. "We needed to
> have some comfort
> that we weren't altering the sharks' behavior, and we just couldn't get
> that," Commission
> Chairman David Meehan said.
>
> Ironically, Meehan said, it was videotapes provided by the shark tour
> guides in their own
> defense that convinced him the practice could teach the predators
> dangerous habits.
>
> "I didn't realize that there was such an abnormal concentration of
> sharks when they were fed
> until I saw the videos," Meehan said. "It was like they responded to the
> dinner bell."
>
> Dan Wagner, an undersea documentary maker from Indialantic who feeds
> sharks to get his best
> shots, said the vote will cost the state tourist dollars.
>
> "With no scientific proof that fish feeding underwater had anything to
> do with any attacks
> anywhere, the commission put four people out of business," he said.

 

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