In Pictures: Sharks, tourists jostle for space around Thai destination island
In 2022, authorities allowed limited tourism to resume in Maya Bay, after a tourism ban and the Covid-19 pandemic halted all visitors from 2018. Now, conservationists say shark numbers are thinning out again, leaving the bay struggling to strike a balance between preserving a pristine ecosystem and sustaining livelihoods dependent on tourism.
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Metavee Chuangcharoendee, 27, from the Maya Shark Watch Project, pauses while snorkelling as she removes pieces of abandoned fishing nets from a coral reef in Maya Bay, at the Phi Phi Island National Park, on Phi Phi Leh Island, Krabi province, Thailand on Feb 26., 2023.
REUTERS
A newborn blacktip reef shark is silhouetted as it swims at night past the Maya Shark Watch Project's baited remote underwater video station, in Maya Bay on Feb 27.
REUTERS
Tourists arrive for an hour-long visit to Maya Bay beach, through a new pier constructed over a reef in Loh Samah Bay beach, at the Phi Phi Island National Park on Feb 25. With the number of sharks in Maya Bay already dwindling, authorities and conservationists are intent on keeping tourists from swimming in the bay and driving away the baby sharks, which hide in the shallows and coral reefs from the cannibalistic adults.
REUTERS
Sommawan Kasa, 29, Metavee Chuangcharoendee, 27, and Jampon Khonthong, 38, team members of the Maya Shark Watch Project, prepare to install their baited remote underwater video station in Maya Bay at the Phi Phi Island National Park on Feb 23. The Maya Shark Watch Project uses underwater cameras and drones to count sharks and observe their behaviour, feeding areas, and breeding patterns.
REUTERS
Tourists arrive for an hour-long visit to Maya Bay beach through a new pier constructed over a reef in Loh Samah Bay beach at the Phi Phi Island National Park, on Feb 23. Under pressure from tour operators, authorities reopened Maya Bay in January 2022 after four years of closure, and visitor and revenue figures are once again rising steadily.
REUTERS
Sommawan Kasa, 29, a divemaster with the Maya Shark Watch Project, takes notes on a waterproof filming board as the group installs its baited remote underwater video station, in Maya Bay on Feb 24.
REUTERS
Tourists pose for a picture as a newborn blacktip reef shark swims by the shore of the beach in Maya Bay on Feb 24.
REUTERS
Tourists watch a newborn blacktip reef shark at the beach in Maya Bay at the Phi Phi Island National Park on Feb 25. Authorities have maintained restrictions on access. Tour boats must dock on the other side of the island from the beach; visitors must walk to the beach; the number of visitors allowed every hour is capped at 375 and they are allowed to wade only knee-deep into the water.
REUTERS
The moon is seen from inside a cave in Maya Bay at the Phi Phi Island National Park, on Phi Phi Leh Island on Feb 27. The green light pollution on the horizon is from squid fishing boats. A number of factors affect the sharks around Phi Phi Leh Island, including seasonal movement patterns and human activity like fishing.
REUTERS
A group of eight juvenile blacktip reef sharks swim in the early morning, during low tide, in the shallow waters used as a nursery, in Maya Bay at the Phi Phi Island National Park, on Feb 27. Blacktips, named after the distinctive black colouring on their dorsal fins and tails, roam the Andaman Sea and other tropical regions in decreasing numbers due to overfishing, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
REUTERS
Wizchayuth Limungkoon, 41, a former ranger and current team member of the Maya Shark Watch Project, prepares to get into the water to pick up cameras installed at their baited remote underwater video station, in Maya Bay on Feb 25.
REUTERS
A newborn blacktip reef shark, which is listed as a vulnerable species, swims at night in Maya Bay at the Phi Phi Island National Park, on Feb 24.
REUTERS
