Asian Diver – March 2018

HIGHLIGHTS

Aggressor Fleet has been sailing the seas for more than 30
years. Have you noticed any significant change in the shark
diving sites over the years?
While there is a lot of seasonality to shark encounters, where
marine parks are established and enforced, populations come
back amazingly quick, and in huge numbers, as we see in the
Gardens of the Queen in Cuba. You can dive with 30 or 40 grey
reef sharks and six to 10 silky sharks on almost every dive. In
the rest of the Caribbean, we see fairly consistent numbers,
though not as huge as Cuba. Certainly, there are areas of the
globe that have overfished sharks but we work with every
government where we are located to either enforce existing
park rules or help them establish marine parks and the
monetary return that they bring into the country.

With the current plight that sharks are facing, what
conservation efforts is Aggressor involved in?
We have worked with and supported many of the shark
conservation groups such as Shark Savers and WildAid over
the years. In 2015, we started the Sea of Change foundation
where 100 percent of every dollar raised would go directly
to marine conservation efforts around the globe. In 2016,
we hired a full time Director of Conservation and Outreach
to help us find projects that could make a significant impact
for our oceans’ future. Our first project was to fund a remote

camera system in Palau to help enforce the marine park rules

and eliminate the shark finning that was occurring there. We

have also worked with other conservation groups to add radar

tracking software on-board that can predict fishing based on

the time and track of foreign vessels. We can then alert local

authorities to prevent illegal activities.

Do the liveaboards educate guests on safe and responsible

shark diving practices? If yes, how so?

We have a comprehensive safety briefing when guests board

and it includes not just good diving practices but safe shark

encounter tips. Where we have known shark congregation

dives, we give a more detailed briefing of good practices

before those dives to help every diver get that thrill of

diving with the sharks while ensuring the sharks never

feel threatened.

Lastly, compared to a dive centre that offers shark diving,

how do liveaboards differ in the experience provided

for guests?

The liveaboard diver tends to be a more experienced diver,

so as a guest you are surrounded by similar seasoned divers,

where everyone ends up with a great experience. We are also

able to get to those remote locations where the huge schools

exist, and fewer divers mean more encounters! AD

BELOW: Hundreds of hammerhead sharks

encountered in the Galápagos

IMAGE: Aggressor Fleet