Cage-Diving Tours Found Not To Increase Shark Risk

In what seems like the opposite of common sense, The Honolulu Star Bulletin is reporting on scientists who state that there is apparently no correlation between shark cage-diving tours and an increased risk for being attacked by a shark.

Check out the full story for all the details:

There is no scientific evidence that Oahu North Shore cage-diving tours increase shark attack risk for recreational ocean users in near-shore waters, a two-year study of shark behavior concluded. Scientists from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology noted a lack of proof during the latest shark tour debate, said biologist Carl Meyer.

Such shark tours pose no significant threat to near-shore ocean recreation users, and there is no reason to believe they will as long as they remain “spatially separated from recreational ocean users,” Meyer said in response to a question on whether the data might shift if there is an increase in the number of tour operators on the South Shore.

Meyer noted other studies that show a greater number of attacks were in connection with shark tours that involved an operation with underwater divers who sit on the reef and attract sharks with fish parts versus cage-diving tours.