Sharks Returned on the Maya Bay Beach

Sharks Returned on the Maya Bay Beach

Tourist found shark swimming on the beach.

While "sharks found swimming at a beach" shouldn't make news because this is normal behavior for them, sharks swimming at a particular beach made famous by young Leonardo Di Caprio are cause for celebration for some.

Around fifty blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) have been seen in the waters of Maya Bay, Thailand which closed in June to tourism to help the area's ecosystem recover.

Maya Bay was made famous when the white sands and turquoise waters were featured in the movie "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Following the 2000 movie, the area was visited daily by some 5,000 people in part to the success of the film. Originally Maya Bay was closed for a period of three months and the closure was extended indefinitely.

 "Sharks are new to us. Maya Bay has always been the touristiest area in the country, so we have never had the opportunity to explore or study the species in the area," Efe Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a professor at the Thai university in Kasetsart, told El Comercio earlier this month.

Efe is one of the project heads leading the recovery of the bay and does not know if the sharks will stay in the region in a "temporary or lasting" way.

In Thailand, 64 species have been previously reported to be in Thailand. These include two most frequently encountered by divers such as the blacktip reef (Carcharhinus melanopterus) and leopard sharks (Stegostoma fasciatum).

While there is no definitive date for the bay reopening, the leaders are pushing for enforcement on new rules they are putting forward, such as prohibiting the entry of boats to the beach moving forward.

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