There is enormous potential for shark eco-tourism in the Eastern Cape, according to British shark researcher Matt Dicken.
A marine biologist based at Bayworld at present, Dicken was speaking at an international marine seminar and expo at the University of Port Elizabeth last week.
He said the key for shark eco-tourism in South Africa is to market it around the extraordinary variety of sharks found along the country’s coast — particularly in the Eastern Cape.
It should also be packaged together with shark catch-and-tag angling, whale and bird watching and other marine experiences such as the amazing sardine run as part of ”an Eastern Cape marine experience”, he said.
There are more than 370 species of shark in the world. About 100 of these are found off South Africa and about 90 of these off the Eastern Cape.
”In the Eastern Cape you have your great whites, juvenile smooth hammerheads and ragged-tooth sharks. This is the healthy population of raggies left in the world. To be able to spot 20 raggies on a single dive at Bellbuoy is a remarkable thing, and much more could be done to advertise it.” — Sapa