Blacktip Reefshark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) Movement Displays During Interaction with Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus Diver in Morotai Waters, Maluku Utara, Indonesia

Abstract

Shark diving tourism as one of the conservation tools has been growing progressively in the recent decades. Shark diving is among the popular attraction for the marine tourism in Indonesia that plays major role—as rank fourth in the shark tourism world-for the coastal development in the eastern part of Indonesia. Morotai, as well as Derawan, Gorontalo, Biak, Raja Ampat, Nabire and Teluk Cenderawasih, Lombok, Komodo, and Banda Sea, is well known for its shark diving site. Despite its prominent status as a tourism appeal, little is known about the behavior of blacktip reefshark during the interaction with SCUBA diver. The knowledge of shark behavior during interaction with Self- Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) diver is important for developing safer diving practice, ecological assessment, and shark tourism carrying capacity. This research involves DOV (Diver Operated Video) to capture the movement patterns of shark while interacting with SCUBA Diver. Analysis of hundreds of movement displays of the Carcharhinus melanopterus during SCUBA diving shows that this shark is having a specific and consistent movement displays while engaging with SCUBA divers.