Dear Travel Wise,

I had the pleasure of joining your crew on an incredible 4D3N tour just last week. I can honestly say that your tours have incredible value and the memories made will last a lifetime.

I am writing you to reconsider the inclusion of the snorkelling at Whale Shark Point in Selah Bay. I could not ignore the shredded shrimp in the water as we were encouraged to jump in and get up close to the whale sharks. While you say that you “cannot guarentee the sighting of whale sharks”, I would argue that you could. Your method of ensuring a great experience for your group was once admirable, but with what we know about the disruption of migration that feeding causes, it needs to be reconsidered as dangerous and reckless. Especially considering that since 2013, whale sharks are suppose to be protected under the Decree of the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of the Republic of Indonesia. As endangered species (IUCN red list), we need to take this responsibility seriously.

As someone who loved the heart of your tour, the simplicity of travelling with gorgeous views, stopping and beautiful spots that seem untouched, I would ask that you consider stopping feeding the whale sharks. I would prefer an authentic experience, where the viewing of these beautiful creatures are up to chance. I would rather know that taking this tour does not risk their livelihood, that we leave their habitat as it is, that we don't encourage them to rely on the feeding from humans. Feeding them has shown to cause changes to their diving behaviour, higher occurence of scars, changes in metabolism shown between whale sharks in feeding and non feeding areas (Araujo et al., 2020; Penkenth et al., 2020; Thomson et al., 2017). Whale Sharks are also an important indicator of environmental health and a key stone species, helping to regulate nutrients and maintain balance in important ecosystems (Setiadi et al., 2025). So not only does feeding harm the whale sharks, but causes imbalance to the whole marine ecosystem that they inhabit. I don’t want to contribute to such drastic outcomes.

 As I mentioned, your tour has such great value for its price. I know that feeding the sharks creates jobs for local communities, but I believe that the tour would still hold its value if the portion of money that funds the feeding of the sharks could go towards more sustainable methods of enjoying the wildlife. The trend for ecotourism is on the rise, so why not get ahead of the demand. Altering your tour could protect the whales while promoting your business as forward-thinking and ethical.

Please see signatures in support of this change.

Resources:

Araujo, G., Labaja, J., Snow, S., Huveneers, C., & Ponzo, A. (2020). Changes in diving behaviour and habitat use of provisioned whale sharks: implications for management. Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73416-2

Legaspi, C., Miranda, J., Labaja, J., Snow, S., Ponzo, A., & Araujo, G. (2020). In-water observations highlight the effects of provisioning on whale shark behaviour at the world’s largest whale shark tourism destination. Royal Society Open Science, 7(12), 200392. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.200392

Setiadi, T., Wahyuni, J., & Lantu, I. S. (2025). Stakeholder dynamics in Whale Shark Conservation: A social-economic analysis of marine tourism in Botubarani Beach, Gorontalo, Indonesia. IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science, 1461(1), 012047. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1461/1/012047

The IUCN red list of threatened species. (n.d.). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. https://www.iucnredlist.org/search?query=whale shark&searchType=species