“We dropped usual place in Elephant Head Rock, Similan: southern side of the main rock, before the channel and the tiger shark came up from the deeper water to check us out. It came very close and there was no doubting it. ”
Unfortunately this time the divers didn’t have a camera to capture the moment but what a thrill!!!
Tiger sharks are very rarely sighted by divers as they usually prefer to live in deeper/ colder waters.
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The Smiling Seahorse guests were also very lucky to spot a tiger shark twice last season at the nearby Burma banks : in March 2019 and November 2019.
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Another tigershark has been spotted and photographed by snorkelers in Surin islands in December 2019 but such sightings are so exceptional they are making the news!
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Is there hope for Thailand’s Sharks population?
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Sharks have been slaughtered for decades for the meat and fins and shark population has decreased dramatically: some sharks number have seen a 90 percent cut in the last 50 years! Finning, a practice where fishermen cut the shark’s fins before discarding the rest of the body in the Ocean is now illegal in 52 countries but only 12 countries have banned shark fishing altogether. Unfortunately the practice is still legal in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. A recent study done by WildAid and Rapid Asia in Thailand, found that 57 percent of Thais living in urban areas have consumed shark fin at some point. |
In recent year more and more campaigns have raised awareness about this cause and eating shark fin soup is loosing popularity. In China, 85 percent of respondents to a recent survey reported they had stopped eating shark fin soup. |
Such sightings of Tiger sharks in Similan, Thailand sure give us hope for the future of Shark population in Asia. Thailand still has a bountiful Marine life to explore!
Want to know more about these wonderful creatures? Check out our blog answering all the questions you may have about Tiger sharks.
And if you want to try your luck, come dive with us!
One Response
That’s a leopard shark captured by the snorkelers. In surin.