HONOLULU, Hawaii — In another setback for the dive industry and its small, but strident contingent of profit-driven shark feeders, the Honolulu City Council gave preliminary approval to a bill banning shark feeding tour operators on the island of Oahu. CDNN previously reported on September 8 that Maui passed a similar bill that prohibits all marketing and sales of tours that solicit residents and visitors to participate in shark feeding activities on the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe. The Maui County Council found that manipulating and provoking sharks with food has negative impacts on sharks because it changes their natural behavior and disrupts the natural balance of the ocean ecosystem. It also found that shark feeding poses a threat to swimmers, surfers and other ocean users because it conditions sharks to associate people with food and diminishes their natural wariness of humans. The council also found that shark feeding is disrespectful of native Hawaiians who consider sharks sacred and are offended by profit-driven dive operators who exploit them to entertain tourists. The Oahu bill, which would effectively shut down two Oahu-based shark feeders, is sponsored by Councilman Charles Djou. Reflecting the findings of the Maui County Council that shark feeding is bad for sharks and people, Djou explained why he and other council members have reached the conclusion that shark feeding must be banned in Oahu. "(Shark feeding) raises public safety concerns for ocean users, is disrespectful of Hawaiian culture, alters the natural behavior and distribution of sharks, and may be disruptive of ocean ecology and the natural environment," Djou said. Bottom line? Shark feeding supporters, led by dive industry insiders, argue that "Hawaii politicians and native Hawaiians are liars who don't really care about sharks because they allow Hawaii's fishing industry to legally kill and process thousands of sharks every week". They also argue that because there is a multi-million dollar market for shark feeding, people should simply ignore Hawaiian culture, public safety and all of the scientific studies that found shark feeding damages natural shark behavior and disrupts the natural balance of ocean ecosystems. Dive industry shark feeders also dismiss reports of divers who were attacked and severely injured or killed while participating in shark feeding dives as "media sensationalism" and assert that more tourists die every year from food poisoning and sexually transmitted diseases than shark attacks. The dive industry also argues that just because shark feeding dives are dangerous and tourists sometimes die or are severely injured during shark feeding dives, shark feeders should not be banned "because people have the right to become shark feeding accident victims provided they understand the risks and sign the liability waivers". Shark feeding deaths and injuries In June 2009, a woman died after she was attacked by a "provoked" shark at an illegal shark feeding site in the Red Sea. Dive industry insiders later blamed the victim for "threatening the shark". In 2008, a tourist died after he was attacked by another "provoked" shark while diving with notorious Florida shark feeder Jim Abernethy of Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures. Dive industry insiders argued that Abernethy was not to blame because the victim signed a waiver stating that he understood the risks of participating in shark feeding dives. In September, 2006, a shark that had been attracted by fish bait attacked and severely injured Dave Marcel, one of shark feeder Spencer Slate's employees. Marcel nearly lost his upper lip when he foolishly flipped a shark over and attempted to kiss it, a moronic stunt pioneered by scuba hall of famer Slate. In 2005, a tourist nearly lost his arm after he was attacked by a fed and provoked moray eel while diving with Ocean Frontiers, owned by liquor store owner and shark feeder, Steve Broadbelt. In 2002, soon after Broadbelt attempted to cash in on the shark feeding fad, the Cayman Islands banned shark feeding and shut down Broadbelt's shark feeding dives. In April, 2002, TV shark show daredevil Erich Ritter went into severe shock and nearly lost his left leg after he was bitten by a bull shark while feeding sharks in the Bahamas. Ritter told the media "the shark made a mistake". On August 4, 2001, Krishna Thompson, a 34-year-old New York banker lost a leg, and very nearly his life, when he was attacked just off the beach at Our Lucaya Golf and Beach Resort near a shark feeding site in the Bahamas. Thompson successfully sued Our Lucaya Golf and Beach Resort for failing to warn guests that local dive operators sell shark feeding tours at sites located less than a mile from the hotel beach. According to official statistics kept by the International Shark Attack File, at least 24 divers have been injured during shark feeding dives.
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