Yes to Whale Shark Feeding

Essay 7. YES TO WHALE SHARK FEEDING

By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol

Men have been feeding animals for centuries. Cattle, pigs, goats, chickens, fishes, and now, even crocodiles and ostriches, are fattened for slaughter. I don't condemn that practice, at this point, because I still eat meat. But many animal welfare advocates and vegetarians do condemn it. They see it as cruelty to animals. 

Animals in circuses, zoos, and oceanariums are also fed. Animal welfare advocates also condemn it---not the feeding---but the confinement for life in cramped cages, pens, and glass tanks of these animals. To them, that is also cruelty to animals. I agree.

As a boy, I remember being fascinated by the animals I saw at the zoo and yet at the same time felt sorry for them. I knew even then that the zoos are actually prisons where the animals will spend the rest of their sad lives. A clear memory of those days at the zoo was the pathetic sight of a small bear pacing endlessly from one end of his cramped cage to the other.

Years ago, I saw on Jessica Soho's television show, a feature on the African wild animals in Calauit Island in Palawan who are fed daily by caretakers for them to flourish and perhaps multiply, so that tourists would have reason to visit Calauit again and again. Now, that's the same exact reason why the fishermen of Barangay Tan-awan, Oslob, Cebu are feeding the whale sharks.

That's the mystery to me. Why do the environmentalists and biologists condemn whale shark feeding in Tan-awan on one hand and condone the feeding of zebras and giraffes in Calauit on the other? Feeding is always a benevolent act if the one giving food doesn't intend to slaughter  later on or sell to the slaughterhouse the animals being fed.

Environmentalists and biologists state several reasons why they are against whale shark feeding. They argued that this might alter the whale sharks' future behavior. They fear that the whale sharks might become too dependent on the uyap (baby shrimps) being doled out to them by the fishermen, and that they could become aggressive later on. 

But they are all conjectures, because the biologists themselves admit that no study had yet been made on the behavior of hand-fed whale sharks. Food is food. Everyone is dependent on it. It doesn't matter much to whale sharks, I guess, whether they are doled out or searched for. They would get it where they can get it. What's important to them is their availability, which the fishermen I'm sure are willing to guarantee indefinitely. Besides, even if the feeding of whale sharks stopped, it won't be difficult for them to revert to their ancient way of foraging, because catching baby shrimps, planktons, and other sea nutrients doesn't really require well-honed hunting skills.

With regards to the fear that the whale sharks would develop aggressive attitudes, well, I don't see any reason why they should when there is plenty of food to go around. They will only fight one another for food when food is scarce. But then again, I don't think that would happen, because whale sharks are inherently docile, and would, I'm sure, just search farther for food.

Environmentalists and biologists also compare the scenario at Tana-awan to a zoo, circus, or oceanarium. Well, that analogy is wrong, if not downright stupid. They seem to have forgotten that animals in zoos, circuses, and oceanariums are captives, while the whale sharks in Tan-awan are not. No pens, cages, or glass tanks hinder the whale sharks' mobility. They can move out of the area anytime they want and "gallivant" in the sea between Cebu, Negros, Bohol, Siquijor, Camiguin, and Leyte, or even farther, if they feel like it. The whaleshark watching time is also limited up to noontime only to allow the whalesharks who stay in the area to be by themselves, and escape the attention of awestruck tourists until the next morning.

What should really be frowned upon is the touching of whale sharks, an act so strictly prohibited that the town saw it fit to promulgate an ordinance imposing stiff fines or imprisonment on violators. To ensure compliance, several bantay-dagats or sea watchmen in scuba, patrol the waters in the whale shark watching area. 

As an ecological conservation measure, the use of sunblock lotions is also prohibited because that substance can alter the chemistry of the sea. The use of flash in cameras is also forbidden so as not to startle the whale sharks.

As I've written before, Oslob's low-profile days are over. Ever since the whale sharks chose the waters of the town as their R and R (rest and recreation) destination, hordes of local and foreign tourists continue to descend on Barangay Tan-awan to savor its underwater sights. Oriental and European tourists, and even local showbiz celebritites, are also already a common sight in Tan-awan, and in Oslob's Poblacion, where the market and commercial establishments are. 

That is a good thing. The people of Oslob, especially the fisherfolk, never had it this good. Now, they are given the chance to dream big and aspire for the better things in life. The fishermen can now afford to send their children to college, and perhaps build better houses for themselves, and eat better food. Denying them the means to earn more would cancel all that. This may sound melodramatic, but to me, that is cruelty to poor people.

But no circumstance is perfect of course. There is a downside to this tourism boom, which is the hike in price of the products being sold in the market there and the food served in canteens and restaurants.

I wrote this essay originally in 2012, I think.  The year 2020, when all of us sat on the "brink of extinction", had passed. That year was a terrible year, especially for tourism. So the people of Oslob must have felt the disaster more acutely than us here in Manila.

2020 is very bad indeed, but not so for the whale sharks I supposed. They might have missed the daily shrimp dole-outs, but they will not go hungry because the shrimps are still there in the sea, oblivious and unaffected by the covid scare, and multiplying merrily. All the whale sharks have to do if they want to eat is just exert more effort and search for shrimps in the seas a bit farther from the sea off Oslob.