Feeding sharks and turtles in the wild has devastating impacts.
Feeding marine life is a tempting way to get closer to nature, especially when Cayman’s clear waters and abundant marine life make close encounters feel effortless. But offering food to any wildlife can have devastating impacts to animals, habitats, humans and the delicate balance of Cayman’s ecosystems.
Captain Chris helps visitors safely interact with a Southern Stingray in the “Wildlife Interaction Zone” (WIZ) at Stingray City Sandbar. It is illegal to feed, touch or harm stingrays or any other wildlife anywhere in Cayman waters outside of the WIZ.Photo: WhiteSandWatersports.com
Wildlife Interaction Zones
Cayman’s beloved Stingray City & Sandbar were established as “Wildlife Interaction Zones” (WIZ) in 2007 to ensure a clear delineation was made for the permitted feeding and handling of stingrays in these designated areas only. It is illegal to feed, touch or harm stingrays or any other wildlife anywhere in Cayman waters outside of the WIZ.
While no-touch observation is always encouraged, legal Guidance Notes were issued for the safe handling of both the stingrays in the WIZ and the starfish at Starfish Point in 2021.
Increasing reports of people feeding wild sea turtles and even sharks are very concerning as animals conditioned to expect food from humans predictably become more aggressive, endangering both humans and themselves. Cayman’s sharks and sea turtles already face a myriad of challenges which have historically reduced local populations to endangered levels and the Department of Environment has spent decades researching them to better understand how we can help their populations thrive in the natural environment. It’s therefore disconcerting to learn that intentional feeding of sharks and sea turtles in the wild is taking place again when the negative impacts associated with this are evident.
Sharks
Ancient, intelligent hunters, sharks have roamed our oceans for over 400 million years and we are just scratching the surface of shark research in Cayman. Unfortunately reports of shark feeding – often by lionfish cullers – have resulted in assertive sharks approaching recreational divers and cullers looking for a snack, risking both swimmers and sharks.
Caribbean reef sharks are essential to maintaining healthy coral ecosystems.Beyond safety, altering shark behaviour can ripple through the food web, changing the predator-prey relationships that maintain delicate reef balance. Generally solitary creatures, sharks gathering for free food creates situations ripe for disease transmission, aggression and of course accidents which some might consider punishable. For these reasons, feeding or attempting to attract sharks has been illegal anywhere in Cayman waters since 2002.
Sea turtles
As one of the oldest species on Earth, each sea turtle species evolved to rely on a specific diet for its nutritional needs. Green sea turtles for example, primarily graze on seagrass while hawksbills mostly feed on sponges, and indeed both our seagrass beds and reef structures rely on the regular maintenance turtle grazing provides.
A grazing sea turtle provides critical maintenance to the seagrass bed.Cayman’s wild green, hawksbill and loggerhead sea turtles are not just a part of our heritage, they are globally vulnerable species protected at all times under the National Conservation Act. Reports of feeding sea turtles from other jurisdictions have revealed dangerously overweight turtles struggling to control buoyancy; impacting their ability to both feed naturally and dive to avoid predators. People feeding or swimming with turtles being fed also risk getting bit by their incredibly powerful beaks. Turtles approaching boats seeking food risk line entanglement and boat propeller strikes, making them more vulnerable to predators, and the risk of poaching. Even worse, human food and discarded plastics can cause intestinal blockage and poisoning. No one should feed, touch, harass or harm wild sea turtles at any time in the Cayman Islands.
Enjoy Nature Naturally
If we truly want to conserve, protect and enjoy our natural environment, we need to re-orient our thinking to what is best for the wildlife that we are sharing that environment with. It is well documented that feeding animals disrupts nutritional needs, food webs and predator-prey dynamics while endangering both humans and animals as they change behaviour to seek out and demand an easy meal. Feeding wildlife also impacts our delicate island ecosystems. Reefs, coastal habitats and dry forests are weakened when fed species change behaviours like hunting, foraging, grazing and seed dispersal which otherwise would have supported the ecosystem. Altering these vital interactions in nature can reduce resilience to climate stress, and increase disease and mortality.
Let us simply observe and appreciate our incredible species in their natural environment. Retaining native vegetation within our landscaping plans or re-planting native flowers and trees and creating water features in our gardens will attract a host of native species for our enjoyment. Spending more time on and in the water will bring natural encounters with our beautiful marine life. We can invest in binoculars or a good camera to take photos and we can share experiences with other enthusiasts. Let’s choose to enjoy our islands naturally – while we still can.
Reports of people or operators feeding wildlife outside of the Wildlife Interaction Zone may be made directly to the Chief Conservation Officer by sending pictures and location by WhatsApp message to 916-4271. Please call for emergencies only.