MAYA BAY, Thailand: On any given day in Thailand's Maya Bay, up to 40 blacktip reef sharks cruise in the cyan shallows while about 4,000 tourists visit its white-sand beach flanked by towering cliffs. Shark numbers have improved since almost every last one was driven from the bay by the influx of tour boat
MAYA BAY, Thailand: On any given day in Thailand's Maya Bay, up to 40 blacktip reef sharks cruise in the cyan shallows while about 4,000 tourists visit its white-sand beach flanked by towering cliffs.
Authorities allowed limited tourism to resume in 2022, and now conservationists say shark numbers are thinning out again, leaving Maya Bay struggling to strike a balance between preserving a pristine ecosystem and sustaining livelihoods dependent on tourism. She and other researchers at the Maya Shark Watch Project use underwater cameras and drones to count sharks and observe their behaviour, feeding areas, and breeding patterns. In the year between November 2021, when they initiated a pilot study, and the end of 2022, they noticed a decrease in the number of sharks as tourists gradually returned.
A number of factors affect the sharks around Phi Phi Leh Island, including seasonal movement patterns and human activity like fishing, Metavee said. Metavee Chuangcharoendee, 27, from the Maya Shark Watch Project, installs the team's baited remote underwater video station, along with her teammates Sommawan Kasa, 29, Paphassawan Sunthornkel, 33, Nuch Natwarachawisut, 29, and Jampon Khonthong, 38, in Maya Bay at the Phi Phi Island National Park, on Phi Phi Leh Island, Krabi province, Thailand, Feb 23, 2023.
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