In search of visitors who can rehabilitate tourism in Cuba, the local authorities have a new proposal: swim with sharks without “no cage to protect themselves”.
CNN English correspondent on the island, Patrick Oppmanperformed the experience and a report that reviews tourist activity. He paradoxically pointed out that before he had to deal with the “expanding bureaucracy of Cuba to organize a dive with these sharks.”
Oppman’s fate was Shark Friends Dive Center, administered by the government in the coastal city of Playa Santa Lucía, located in Camagüey. The report highlights that it is the only place in the country, and one of the few in the world, where divers can swim with bull sharks.
According to scientists consulted by the CNN reporter, bull sharks have “350 teeth, a muscular appearance, and the occasional propensity to attack ships.” On the other hand They assured him that it is strange that lash out people. In addition, the Cuban diving instructor swore that “he had never had a client bitten by a shark. He not even a bite or a peck”.
The profits could be millions
Dan Whittle, senior director of the Environmental Defense Fund, a group that in 2015 worked with the Cuban government to implement greater protections for marine life on the island, told CNN that The tourism of sharks must contribute millions of dollars to the Cuban government.
Bahamas, for example, is another destination in the Caribbean to swim with these animals. This type of sightseeing generated more than 100 million dollars to the local economy.
Although the report ensures that the amount of money that enters Cuba for this activity It is much less than those of the Bahamasthe guides hope to that the new attraction catches on. They ensure that the island’s pristine reefs and efforts to safeguard the approximately 100 species of native sharks can attract to tourism.
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