Abstract
Great White shark (Carcharodon carcharias) tourism is a highly controversial, iconic niche form of shark tourism that forms part of the nature-based adventure tourism or wildlife tourism market. As such it straddles hard adventure, nature-based adventure as well as marine ecotourism. Great White shark cage diving tourism in South Africa started in the early 1990s and has expanded tremendously. The chance for people to observe and appreciate Great Whites, combined with opportunities to support local communities, along with focused educational initiatives means that this alternative to consumptive uses of wildlife could assist with the long-term preservation of sharks. In addition, it may have a positive impact on the attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of the public with respect to sharks. However, this type of ‘up close and personal’ wildlife tourism which involves ‘close encounters’ with wild animals and marketed as a type of ‘enhanced client experience’ is not unproblematic. The negative impacts on animals in general range from physiological stress; behavioural changes, as well as overall declines in health status, birth rates and even mortality. Thus, this type of wildlife tourism is highly controversial and cannot be left unmanaged. This chapter provides an overview of Great White shark tourism around the world. It explores the geographical location of in-water Great White shark tourism, and then locates the Gansbaai, South Africa industry within the international one. It concludes that South Africa offers a product that is significantly cheaper than any other location. It also hosts many more tourists. Nevertheless, the South African industry is a highly vulnerable one, with the loss of regular Great White sightings between 2016 and 2018 taking a heavy toll on the industry.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Chum is a mixture of minced tuna and sardines with fish oil and seawater (EWT 2016).
- 2.
All prices and exchange rates were as of 7 August 2016.
- 3.
An airline dive system where one can dive without a tank, connected to air tanks on board the boat by a line.
- 4.
The Farallon Island operators are not allowed to use fish derived bait or chum, so luring the sharks close to the cage is a challenge.
- 5.
Exchange rate of 0.71 to the New Zealand Dollar.
- 6.
See https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/29/jaws-new-zealand-town-attack-great-white-sharks-cage-divers [Accessed November 5, 2016].
- 7.
See http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/75022978/paua-divers-take-department-of-conservation-to-court-on-shark-cage-diving [Accessed November 6, 2016].
- 8.
Exchange rate 0.77 to the Australian Dollar.
- 9.
See http://www.sharkwatchsa.com/en/blog/ [Accessed October 25, 2018].
References
Amy, R. (2016). TripAdvisor. Available at: Retrieved November 9, 2016, from https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Attraction_Review-g472522-d1102254-Reviews-White_Shark_Diving_Company-Gansbaai_Overberg_District_Western_Cape.html.
Barnett, A., Payne, N. L., Semmens, J. M., & Fitzpatrick, R. (2016). Ecotourism increases the field metabolic rate of whitetip reef sharks. Biological Conservation, 199, 132–136.
Bev, D. (2011). Bucket list travel great white sharks of Guadalupe. Available at: Retrieved November 2, 2016, from http://www.independenttraveler.com/trip-reviews/bucket-list-travel-great-white-sharks-of-guadalupe.
Bonfil, R., Francis, M. P., Duffy, C., Manning, M. J., & O’Brien, S. (2010). Large-scale tropical movements and diving behaviour of white sharks Carcharodon carcharias tagged off New Zealand. Aquatic Biology, 8(2), 115–123.
Bradford, R., & Robbins, R. (2013). A rapid assessment technique to assist management of the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) cage dive industry, South Australia. The Open Fish Science Journal, 6, 13–18.
Bruce, B. D. & Bradford, R. W. (2011). The effects of berleying on the distribution and behaviour of white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, at the Neptune Islands, South Australia. Final report to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, South Australia. Hobart, Tasmania: CSIRO Publishing Marine and Atmospheric Research: 1–39.
Bruce, B. D., & Bradford, R. W. (2013). The effects of shark cage-diving operations on the behaviour and movements of white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, at the Neptune Islands South Australia. Marine Biology, 160(4), 889–907.
Bruce, B. D., Stevens, J. D., & Malcolm, H. (2006). Movements and swimming behaviour of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in Australian waters. Marine Biology, 150(2), 161–172.
Buckley, R. (2010). Adventure tourism management. Oxford, Great Britain: Elsevier.
Burgess, G. H., Bruce, B. D., Cailliet, G. M., Goldman, K. J., Grubbs, R. D., Lowe, C. G., … & O’Sullivan, J. B. (2014). A re-evaluation of the size of the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) population off California, USA. PloS One, 9(6), e98078. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098078.
Burgin, S., & Hardiman, N. (2015). Effects of non-consumptive wildlife-oriented tourism on marine species and prospects for their sustainable management. Journal of Environmental Management, 151, 210–220.
Cagua, E. F., Collins, N., Hancock, J., & Rees, R. (2014). Whale shark economics: A valuation of wildlife tourism in South Ari Atoll Maldives. PeerJ, 2(e515), 1–17.
Cater, C., & Cloke, P. (2007). Bodies in action: The performativity of adventure tourism. Anthropology Today, 23(6), 13–16.
Childerhouse, S., & Gales, N. (1998). Historical and modern distribution and abundance of the New Zealand sea lion Phocarctos hookeri. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 25(1), 1–16.
Cisneros-Montemayor, A. M., Barnes-Mauthe, M., Al-Abdulrazzak, D., Navarro-Holm, E., & Sumaila, U. R. (2013). Global economic value of shark ecotourism: Implications for conservation. Oryx, 47(3), 381–388.
Clua, E., Buray, N., Legendre, P., Mourier, J., & Planes, S. (2011). Business partner or simple catch? The economic value of the sicklefin lemon shark in French Polynesia. Marine & Freshwater Research, 62(6), 764–770.
Dicken, M. L., & Hosking, S. G. (2009). Socio-economic aspects of the tiger shark diving industry within the Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area, South Africa. African Journal of Marine Science, 31(2), 227–232.
Dobson, J. (2008). Chapter 3: Shark! A new frontier in tourist demand for marine wildlife. In J. Higham & M. Lück (Eds.), Marine wildlife and tourism management: Insights from the natural and social sciences (pp. 49–65). India: CABI.
Domeier, M. L., & Nasby-Lucas, N. (2007). Annual re-sightings of photographically identified white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) at an eastern Pacific aggregation site (Guadalupe Island, Mexico). Marine Biology, 150(5), 977–984.
Elorriaga-Verplancken, F. R., Sierra-Rodríguez, G. E., Rosales-Nanduca, H., Acevedo-Whitehouse, K., & Sandoval-Sierra, J. (2016). Impact of the 2015 El Niño-Southern Oscillation on the Abundance and Foraging Habits of Guadalupe Fur Seals and California Sea Lions from the San Benito Archipelago Mexico. PloS One, 11(5), e0155034. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0155034.
EWT, Endangered Wildlife Trust. (2016). Position Statement on Baited Shark Diving. Available at: Retrieved December 2, 2016, from https://www.ewt.org.za/scientific%20publications/position%20statements/EWT%20Baited%20Shark%20Diving%20position%20statement.pdf.
Gallagher, A. J., & Hammerschlag, N. (2011). Global shark currency: The distribution, frequency, and economic value of shark ecotourism. Current Issues in Tourism, 14(8), 797–812.
Gallagher, A. J., Vianna, G. M., Papastamatiou, Y. P., Macdonald, C., Guttridge, T. L., & Hammerschlag, N. (2015). Biological effects, conservation potential, and research priorities of shark diving tourism. Biological Conservation, 184, 365–379.
Galván-Villa, C. M., Ríos-Jara, E., Bastida-Izaguirre, D., Hastings, P. A., & Balart, E. F. (2016). Annotated checklist of marine fishes from the Sanctuary of Bahía Chamela, Mexico with occurrence and biogeographic data. ZooKeys, 554, 139–157.
Granquist, S. M., & Nilsson, P. Å. (2016). Who’s watching whom?–an interdisciplinary approach to the study of seal-watching tourism in Iceland. Journal of Cleaner Production, 111, 471–478.
Guerra, M., & Dawson, S. M. (2016). Boat-based tourism and bottlenose dolphins in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand: The role of management in decreasing dolphin-boat interactions. Tourism Management, 57, 3–9.
HenrikDenmarkEU. (2018). No more great white sharks in False Bay and Gansbaai?. TripAdvisor. Available at: Retrieved October 25, 2018, from https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/ShowTopic-g293740-i9186-k11195017-No_more_great_white_sharks_in_False_Bay_and_Gansbaai-South_Africa.html.
Hoyos-Padilla, E. M., Klimley, A. P., Galván-Magaña, F., & Antoniou, A. (2016). Contrasts in the movements and habitat use of juvenile and adult white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) at Guadalupe Island Mexico. Animal Biotelemetry, 4(1), 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-016-0106-7.
Huveneers, C., Rogers, P. J., Beckmann, C., Semmens, J. M., Bruce, B. D., & Seuront, L. (2013). The effects of cage-diving activities on the fine-scale swimming behaviour and space use of white sharks. Marine Biology, 160(11), 2863–2875.
Inman, A., Brooker, E., Dolman, S., McCann, R., & Wilson, A. M. W. (2016). The use of marine wildlife-watching codes and their role in managing activities within marine protected areas in Scotland. Ocean and Coastal Management, 132, 132–142.
John B. (2016). Awesome shark experience. TripAdvisor. Available at: https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/ShowUserReviews-g499726-d1487321-r431391439-Calypso_Star_Charters-Port_Lincoln_South_Australia.html [Accessed November 9, 2016].
JohnAmie. (2018). TripAdvisor. Available at: https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/ShowTopic-g293740-i9186-k11195017-No_more_great_white_sharks_in_False_Bay_and_Gansbaai-South_Africa.html [Accessed November 8, 2016].
Keeton, C. (2017). Great white sharks flee in terror. Times Live. Available at: Retrieved October 26, 2018, from https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2017-06-04-great-white-sharks-flee-in-terror/.
Keeton, C. (2018). The return of the great white sharks. Times Live. Available at: Retrieved October 25, 2018, from https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/sci-tech/2018-04-16-the-return-of-the-great-white-sharks/.
MacDiarmid, A., McKenzie, A. & Abraham, E. (2016). Top-down effects on rocky reef ecosystems in north-eastern New Zealand: a historic and qualitative modelling approach. New Zealand Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Report No. 171. Available at: Retrieved November 5, 2016, from https://files.dragonfly.co.nz/publications/pdf/Macdiarmidetal-2016-AEBR-171.pdf.
Maljković, A., & Côté, I. M. (2011). Effects of tourism-related provisioning on the trophic signatures and movement patterns of an apex predator, the Caribbean reef shark. Biological Conservation, 144(2), 859–865.
Mark. (2012). Farallon Island Great White Shark Adventure–”Buyer Beware!!”. TripAdvisor. Available at: Retrieved November 2, 2016, from https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/ShowUserReviews-g29073-d285316-r142821154-Great_White_Adventures-Alameda_California.html.
McKay, T. J. M. (2014). Locating South Africa within the global adventure tourism industry: the case of bungee jumping. Bulletin of Geography: Socio-economic Series, 24, 161–176.
McKay, T. J. M. (2017). The adventure tourism industry of South Africa: Organisation, space and structure. Doctoral dissertation in Geography, University of Johannesburg.
Oceans Africa (no date). Available at: Retrieved December 6, 2016, from http://www.oceansafrica.com/cage-diving-south-africa/.
Popa, D., & Van Hoesen, K. (2016). A “Shark Encounter”: Delayed primary closure and prophylactic antibiotic treatment of a great white shark bite. The Journal of Emergency Medicine, 51(5), 552–556.
Richards, K., O’Leary, B. C., Roberts, C. M., Ormond, R., Gore, M., & Hawkins, J. P. (2015). Sharks and people: Insight into the global practices of tourism operators and their attitudes to shark behaviour. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 91(1), 200–210.
Tinker, M. T., Hatfield, B. B., Harris, M. D., & Ames, J. A. (2016). Dramatic increase in sea otter mortality from white sharks in California. Marine Mammal Science, 32(1), 309–326.
Topelko, K. N., & Dearden, P. (2005). The shark watching industry and its potential contribution to shark conservation. Journal of Ecotourism, 4(2), 108–128.
Towner, A. V., Underhill, L. G., Jewell, O. J., & Smale, M. J. (2013). Environmental influences on the abundance and sexual composition of white sharks Carcharodon carcharias in Gansbaai. South Africa. PloS One, 8(8), e71197. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071197.
Traveller 24. (2017). UPDATE: SA mystery of the killer orcas continues as 4th great white found dead. Available at: Retrieved October 25, 2018, from https://www.traveller24.com/Explore/Green/update-sa-mystery-of-the-killer-orcas-continues-as-4th-great-white-found-dead-20170626.
Tsui, B. (2016). The Farallon Islands Are Off Limits to Humans—but Not Wildlife. The New York Times. Available at: Retrieved November 2, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/travel/san-francisco-farallon-islands.html?_r=0.
Twist, B. A., Hepburn, C. D., & Rayment, W. J. (2016). Distribution of the New Zealand scallop (Pecten novaezealandiae) within and surrounding a customary fisheries area. ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil, 73(2), 384–393.
Vianna, G. M. S., Meekan, M. G., Pannell, D. J., Marsh, S. P. & Meeuwig, J. J. (2010). WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE? The relative value of reef sharks as a fishery and an ecotourism asset in Palau. Australian Institute of Marine Science and University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, 1–30. Available at: Retrieved December 1, 2016, from http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/assets/2011/05/02/palau_shark_tourism.pdf?la=en.
Vianna, G. M. S., Meekan, M. G., Pannell, D. J., Marsh, S. P., & Meeuwig, J. J. (2012). Socio-economic value and community benefits from shark-diving tourism in Palau: A sustainable use of reef shark populations. Biological Conservation, 145(1), 267–277.
Weir, D. (2016). Big Tick for my Bucket List!. TripAdvisor. Available at: Retrieved November 9, 2016, from https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Attraction_Review-g676238-d3823235-Reviews-or50-Shark_Dive_New_Zealand-Bluff_Southland_Region_South_Island.html.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
McKay, T. (2020). Locating Great White Shark Tourism in Gansbaai, South Africa Within the Global Shark Tourism Economy. In: Rogerson, J., Visser, G. (eds) New Directions in South African Tourism Geographies. Geographies of Tourism and Global Change. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29377-2_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29377-2_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-29376-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-29377-2
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)