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MEPS
Marine Ecology Progress Series

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MEPS 420:283-284 (2010)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08877

COMMENT
Baiting sharks for marine tourism: Comment on Clua et al. (2010)

Juerg M. Brunnschweiler1,*, Jonathan McKenzie2

1ETH Zurich, Raemistrasse 101, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
2Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Lousiana 70148, USA

ABSTRACT: A recent study by Clua et al. (2010; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 414:257–266) that looks at the behavioural response of sicklefin lemon sharks Negaprion acutidens to underwater feeding for ecotourism purposes has a number of methodological and semantic problems that complicate the evaluation of the results and raise questions about the conclusions. Main issues are the lack of a control, the use of non-defined terms to characterize observed behaviours, and statements not supported by data. Unwarranted conclusions include the notion that behavioural changes were caused by the human interference, the link between intraspecific aggression and the feeding process, and the loss of genetic variability as a consequence of the aggregating effect of shark feeding.


KEY WORDS: Shark feeding · Behaviour · Intraspecific aggression · Marine tourism · Food provisioning


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Cite this article as: Brunnschweiler JM, McKenzie J (2010) Baiting sharks for marine tourism: Comment on Clua et al. (2010). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 420:283-284. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08877

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