Pacific Magazine > Magazine > September 1, 2006

Pacific Travel

Blue Water Pacific

Looking Beyond The Reef

By Tim Rock

Beautiful coral reefs have long been a main attraction for visitors to the Pacific Islands. Snorkelers, divers and sun worshippers flock to locales with healthy and diverse reefs to explore the amazing world of the coral kingdom. But more people are looking beyond the reef. 

Tonga and Hawaii have the Pacific's best developed whale-watching industries. [All photos are by Tim Rock]

This blue water region is the realm of ocean’s large inhabitants. Whales, dolphins, manta rays, sharks, ocean sunfish and other pelagics are becoming more and more sought by traveling naturalists and adventurers. People want to see them, track their movements, photograph them and understand how they live in the open sea. They do this through land-based excursions out to sea or extended live aboard trips ranging in price from $2,000 to $20,000.

Getting to know the world of the deep blue is a complex task. Guides must understand things like migration patterns, deep undersea terrain, currents, food supplies and moon phases. It’s an important industry that generates new revenues for island people. But it pits fishing and whaling interests against those of environmental tourism.

Humpback whales are known for their complex vocalizations that sound like singing and for their spectacular acrobatic breaching, which sees them lift nearly their entire bodies out of the water and crash back down to the sea. A breach can be many things: a warning, a way to attract a female, or play. It is incredible to see.

Yap, Pohnpei and Palau provide superb venues for manta ray viewing.

Before 1900, an estimated 15,000 humpbacks lived in the North Pacific, but the population was decimated by commercial whaling. In the 20th century, their estimated numbers reportedly dwindled to fewer than 1,000. An international ban on commercial whaling was instituted in 1964, but humpbacks are still endangered. Between 5,000 and 7,500 humpbacks are left in the world’s oceans, and many of those survivors migrate to Hawaii and Tonga, where commercial boats do day trips to see these amazing big mammals.

The dollar value of a whale cannot be estimated, but they are known to return annually to breeding grounds and some seem to actually enjoy entertaining tourists with their aquabatics. While hunting now would seem out of the question, there are those who want to resume whaling, even though for some, whales are more profitable alive than dead.

The 65-day period in the Dominican Republic when the whales pass through, brings in more than $15 million in direct and indirect revenue annually. The economic bonanza also happens in places such as the Big Island and Maui in Hawaii.

The global demand for shark fins means the need to protect tourism         dollars may not be reason enough to protect sharks.

Meanwhile, other blue water attractions can be found across the Pacific. Yap, Palau and Pohnpei have become famous as superb viewing venues for manta rays. Yap has a series of cleaning stations and channels that mantas like to frequent. Adjacent to the open sea, these rays sometimes come in to the channels in large groups, allowing divers and even snorkelers a chance to see a big ray really up close and personal.

Another plankton eater is the whale shark, which is also seen in Hawaiian and Micronesian waters. The largest of the shark family, these big fish are harmless and can be enjoyed by snorkelers. But the Pacific hasn’t developed a consistent site to view these fish. Because they are harmless, and often curious and friendly towards swimmers, major tourism industries have developed around snorkeling and diving with these sharks in places like Exmouth in Western Australia where they come seasonally.

Fisheries in many countries have decimated populations of both mantas and whale sharks, yet few scientific studies have examined these threatened species. The Manta Ray and Whale Shark Trust is now conducting world-leading research on the ecology and conservation of mantas and whale sharks. Its scientific program examines issues directly related to both the continued survival of these species and the promotion of a sustainable tourism industry.

As human pressures increase worldwide, manta ray populations have declined in many areas where they were once common. There is a notable contrast between the few protected populations, such as in Yap and the Hawaiian Islands, where economically valuable ecotourism and dive operations exist and mantas seem to thrive.

Sharks are another blue water attraction, as sighted at Palau’s Blue Corner, Yap’s Vertigo Wall and Oahu’s North Shore. On Oahu, the ships go three miles offshore to the “shark grounds,” where the crystal clear water is 400 feet deep.

Sharks come close enough to thrill snorkelers.

In the dive areas like Palau and Yap, the sharks have become somewhat accustomed to divers and gray reef sharks patrol their natural hunting grounds, often swimming close to see what divers are up to. They are generally afraid of divers, who blow scuba bubbles and make noise. But they come close enough to thrill those who don’t know the sharks are afraid.

It may be the shark’s image as a fearless predator that hurts it as much as helps it. In reality, humans kill an estimated 100 millions sharks per year. At this rate, sharks cannot reproduce fast enough to keep up. Fins taken for the high-demand shark fin soup in Asia come from a huge amount of sharks, mostly through illegal worldwide fisheries. Many nations, like Indonesia and the Philippines, are already considered fished (sharked) out.

Visitors converge on Palau, Yap and Hawaii to view sharks, but internationally, they are being killed at a rate of 100,000 a year.

In Micronesia, there are licensed fishing vessels but also much offshore unloading of catch to mother ships. Thus, the very few officials charged with regulating the catch have virtually no power or resources to oversee the catch, even of licensed vessels.

Unregulated fishing for fins is a cartel business generating millions of dollars. In 2005, Australia alone confiscated 216 ships and stripped another 242 of equipment and catch. The demand for fins is so great worldwide that the need to protect tourism dollars may not be reason enough to deflate this rogue industry. But Palau is trying.

As one of Palau’s major claims to fame is its amazing sheer underwater drop-offs and schooling sharks in the south that attract scuba buffs from all over the world, Palau’s President Tommy Remengesau, Jr. has spearheaded a movement to ban shark fishing throughout the Indo-Pacific. Palau has confiscated finning boats and set fire to pyres of shark fins, vowing that no one shall profit from the exploitation and taking from Palau waters of these valuable food chain members. Remengesau has encouraged other nations in the Pacific and Asia to follow suit. For these efforts, Palau was recognized as Shark Guardian of the Year in 2004.

Yet political forces have undermined efforts here as well. The nation has created powerful laws. They call for fines of up to $250,000 per incident, per day, when “any part of any shark, turtle or ray” is found on any foreign fishing vessel. In one
incident, that would have meant fines for one vessel of US$24 million. Yet, while confiscations do take place, these fines have never been levied. Those familiar with the cases say political favors interfere with the cases and they never appear in court or just get a slap instead of the intended wallop the law intends.

The world of the blue water, the open sea, is one that is still barely understood. The science of how its residents live and what they need to survive is in its infancy and may be playing catch-up to insulated fishing interests. The future of whales, many shark species, big rays and other amazing blue water creatures may well hinge on the money the eco-tourists generate to observe them alive in the blue Pacific.