New research from the University of Sydney shows shark ecotourism encourages long-term conservation efforts. People who joined tours were 40% more likely to protect sharks two years later. These tourists often donated money or signed petitions. This industry helps as shark populations fell by 71% in the last 50 years.
People who join shark ecotourism tours are more likely to take action to protect sharks, including donating to related causes, signing petitions or speaking up online, new research from the University of Sydney shows.
The study is the first to demonstrate a commitment to conservation lasting at least two years among shark ecotourists.
Coupled with a positive shift in news media and online sentiment toward sharks in recent years, the findings suggest the benefits of the burgeoning industry are more than economic, offering the potential to help conserve dwindling shark numbers.
Shark tourism grows as populations decline
Globally, shark populations have declined by 71% in the last 50 years, with a third of species now threatened with extinction. Conversely, participation in shark ecotourism—immersive, in-water experiences observing sharks in their natural habitats—has risen.
More than 500,000 people a year are estimated to participate in interactive eco-activities with sharks and rays. These activities are offered in at least 20 countries, with destinations including the Bahamas, Australia, Hawaii, South Africa, Fiji, Palau and French Polynesia.
Tracking conservation behavior over two years
Published in npj Ocean Sustainability, the research was led by University of Sydney Ph.D. candidate Carmen Dobszewicz in the Faculty of Science's Social Dynamics and Environmental Change Lab, based in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences.
Dobszewicz and colleagues surveyed two cohorts, both drawn from Hawaii. The first group comprised tourists participating in an experiential shark ecotourism tour on Oahu. They went snorkeling or freediving with sharks while accompanied by a marine biologist who surveyed the sharks to support ongoing research and provided educational information about shark conservation. The comparison group comprised members of the public sampled from Waikiki Beach.
Each group was surveyed at the time of the tour and again two years later. On each occasion, respondents were asked whether they had engaged in shark conservation activities.
Tour participants more likely to act
The study found that, two years after their tour, participants were 40% more likely to be engaging in shark conservation behavior than would be expected had they not taken part.
Conservation activity increased in both groups over the two years, but the rise was considerably larger among tour participants. This held after accounting for differences between the groups at the start of the study, including demographic traits, prior involvement in conservation and attrition rates between the two surveys. Among tour participants, the biggest increases were in posting on social media, signing petitions, making donations and advocating for legislation.
Pairing shark encounters with conservation education
The study is the first to track the long-term conservation impact of responsibly conducted shark encounters and offers guidance to ecotourism operators on how their work can benefit conservation efforts, Dobszewicz said.
"Our findings suggest responsible tour operators can be a much-needed boon to efforts to halt the rapid decline in shark populations and help shift widely held misconceptions about sharks," she said.
"Supplementing the underwater experience with educational information on the role sharks play in the ecosystem, the threats they face and what can be done to mitigate these threats leaves tourists with a better understanding of the precarity of shark populations and what we can do to try and rebuild them."
Senior author Michele Barnes, an associate professor, said the research builds on the Social Dynamics and Environmental Change Lab's ongoing work on the relationships between people and nature that underpin a sustainable future.
"Conservation ultimately depends on people. When we build or strengthen meaningful connections between people and the natural world, we create the conditions for lasting change, and that is essential for a sustainable future," she said.