Simon Rogerson visits ‘ Thesher Island ’ to investigate reports that tiger sharks are cramping the locals ’ style
BSAC ’ s Sophie Rennie at Gato Island
Oceanic thresher shark being cleaned by half-moon wrasse at Kimud Shoal
All change at Malapascua
Simon Rogerson visits ‘ Thesher Island ’ to investigate reports that tiger sharks are cramping the locals ’ style
Thresher shark waiting for a clean
Prior to Moalboal , I lead a small group of divers to the island of Malapascua , at the northern end of Cebu . It ’ s an idyllic place of sandy beaches and backpackers ’ bars , where local villagers mix with the many divers who visit in search of thresher sharks . This is the best place in the world to dive with the otherwise elusive deep water threshers .
I had received reports of tiger sharks in the area , and there was concern that the tigers may have forced the thresher sharks away from their usual cleaning stations on the nearby Monad Shoal .
We arrived to a hearty welcome and the customary bucket of ice cold beers courtesy of Leon , manager at Thresher Shark Divers ( TSD ). While our luggage was carted off to the hotel , we made a plan for the coming days . Leon confirmed that the threshers had indeed moved away from Monad , but that we could find them reliably at a different site , another seamount known as Kimud Shoal .
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