Against Nature

I was away last weekend taking my niece, Jerry and my good friend with her son, Nicholas. It was school holiday and I have promised Jerry to take her for a snorkeling trip since most island in the eastern coast is closed for the monsoon season we went to Pulau Payar in Langkawi, but stay in Penang to meet up with another friend for some nice hawker food.

We went for a day trip snorkeling during the weekday and it was cloudy and drizzling whole day while we were there. We were left alone to snorkel around the platform / pontoon area, staff was friendly and helpful enough. Well perhaps we are the only locals on the platform.

However the moment we are in the water I was so disappointed, not because of the water or marine life but by the ethic of the diving/seasports staff ! Breads were thrown into the water to feed the fishes, so that tourist/ snorkelers will go 'huuuu haaa' when the fishes come for the bread ! Feeding animals of any nature is against its natural instinct. Animal is born to live and find food on their own, so do human. We grow to live and find food for ourself, we will not depend on food from our mother and do nothing to find it ourself.

Fishes feed on planktons, algaes and coral to survive, as in human we eat bread, prawn crackers and other edible items deem fit to our sensitive digestive system (stomachs) ! We don't eat what fish eats, nor do fishes feed on our food ! Moreover our act of feeding them will change their instinct as fish, they will not look for food except to feed on the bread !

Most importantly if you see the video, the sharks was fed so near to the tourist that it may mistaken the toe as food and bite on it. By then when things happen, who are to be blame ? The staff who feed the shark ? the marine park ranger who was standing there overlooking the whole feeding process or the ignorant tourist from Russia, Korea, England etc .... 

Everyone has a responsibility to protect the environment and animals that share our 'home'. The platform operator as a profit organization should know very well about responsible and sustainability tourism. If they do not held responsibility to their own business environment they will not be able to sustain for future income.

And as the local authority from the government, Marine Park should make a responsible stand and code of ethics to prohibit feeding of shark or any kind of fish ! Instead they only prohibit fishing in the marine park area :(

Last but not lease, my friend's explanation to her son when asked why we should not feed the shark  "if we continue to feed these sharks/fishes they will not grow, they will depend on our food to feed them. Just like you, when you grow older you do not get food from mummy as like when you are baby, mummy spoon feed you'

It is most important that we do not break the most harmonious symbiosis, be it marine or land, that God had created for us. Please DO NOT break the cycle of LIFE !