Is Saleh Bay whale shark tourism ethical? What the evidence shows

By Saleh Bay Whale Shark Editorial Desk

Sourced figures: prices in the table carry their source and check month. Fees and fares change, and they are third-party figures, not our offers.

Whether Saleh Bay whale shark tourism is ethical has no clean answer. An IUCN factsheet supports a feeding habit older than the bagan fishery, yet a Traveloka guide and several operators describe baiting, and a 2024 study reports rule violations. We know of no study of how often sharks are fed here, so this page sets out both sides.

Are the sharks fed, and by whom?

Some are, according to businesses that sell these trips. The clearest statement comes from a commercial listing, and it is not a research finding. How widespread the practice is remains unknown.

Set side by side, these accounts describe whale shark baiting in Saleh Bay as a practice sellers themselves acknowledge, often as something other operators do. The price table on this page carries two listings for the bagan fee, and one states the bait inclusion in its own wording. A fee paid to a platform crew for keeping a shark nearby gives that crew a reason to feed it. That is our inference from the listings and not a finding from any study.

Is the feeding natural or caused by tourism?

Both things can be true, and the evidence does not let you pick one. The IUCN shark specialist group factsheet cites local ecological knowledge that whale sharks fed on krill and small pelagic fish in the area since 1992, long before the bagan fishery, which supports a natural origin. In a 2024 expedition, an acoustic survey recorded more than seven sharks pursuing fish larvae and zooplankton at 20 to 100 metres, by day and night, away from the nets.

Neither finding shows that nobody baits today, and our Saleh Bay whale shark overview gives the basic facts behind this debate. Sharks that arrived here for natural food can still be held at a platform by added food. A 2025 Frontiers paper adds a caution about reading the data at all: apparent high residency at Indonesian sites might be overestimated, because provisioning could encourage repeat visits.

What are the known risks to the sharks?

The species is listed as Endangered with a decreasing population by the IUCN Red List, and has full legal protection in Indonesia under Decree 18/KEPMEN-KP/2013. Against that background, published concerns for the bay fall into four groups.

• Dependency. Konservasi Indonesia's 2025 report raises two worries: that sharks tied closely to bagans may grow behaviourally dependent and meet people more often, and that tourism, land pollution and fishing pressure may change how they use the habitat.
• Food supply. A marine scientist quoted by Mongabay says that if bagans keep expanding there may eventually not be enough food for whale sharks.
• Conduct in the water. The FAO AGRIS record of a 2024 study says tourism here has negative effects on shark welfare and reports many violations by tourists and operators. The Langkah Travel says touching can damage the protective mucus layer.
• Handling by science. Mongabay also reports that blood tests in one study showed no stress difference during tagging, while an outside scientist warns that long-term fin-mounted tags can permanently damage fins.

AFP, in The Jakarta Post, also notes growing corn and aquaculture around the bay, and names no effect on sharks.

Injury data does not fill the gap. The same Frontiers paper found scarring in 76.9% of individuals, 73.7% in Cenderawasih Bay, mostly minor. We know of no equivalent figure for Saleh Bay. People have also harmed these animals here in a different way: Konservasi Indonesia records residents remembering fins cut and sharks speared or tied in earlier decades, before its team arrived in Labuan Jambu in 2017. That history sits behind any judgement about today's tourism.

What does crowding look like?

Ocean Earth Travels says five or six boats around one active bagan is common in dry season, and that enforcement varies between operators. Antara reports a limit of 20 people diving or swimming every 30 minutes, and quotes a ministry official in early 2025 saying 16 tour operators work the bay and need to explain ethics and the conservation area. The same article speaks of tens of thousands of tourists a year. West Nusa Tenggara's tourism head, in Suara NTB, said in January 2025 that hundreds of people a day visit Labuan Jambu for the sharks, and that many boat visitors leave little income locally, as our Labuhan Jambu page reports. These are estimates from officials and the press, not a daily boat count.

Does the money reach the village?

Partly, it seems. A Sumbawa Regency-backed study from March to June 2026 found tourism improved local welfare but said benefits need stronger distribution. The Langkah Travel says conservation and entrance fees go to the village fund and a village enterprise; that is an operator's account. Who governs conduct at the platforms is covered on our rules page, and the 2026 reservation in our note on the conservation area.

What do visitors report about conduct at the platforms?

Two recent visitor accounts describe what rule sheets cannot. Peter Orsel writes that his boat had no briefing, that some guests touched sharks, and that when he kept back five to ten metres the guide signalled him to come closer. He also reports the platform crew feeding sharks continuously once they arrived. The author of The Travel Shortcut objects to people in canoes around the bagan and the sharks, and argues that being able to swim should be a requirement. These are single mornings told by individual travellers, and other crews may behave differently. They are still good reasons to ask before paying whether a briefing happens, and what the guide does when someone breaks a distance rule.

What remains unknown?

• How often sharks in Saleh Bay are fed. A figure of 60 to 100 days a year exists, but it covers Cenderawasih Bay and Kaimana only, according to the Frontiers paper.
• What feeding does to Saleh Bay sharks in particular. Research at Oslob warns of less natural foraging and possible dependency, and a metabolic study there rests on a sample of four sharks. Our Saleh Bay and Oslob comparison explains why those results do not transfer directly.
• Which operators bait and which do not. We do not rate or rank operators.

So is a Saleh Bay whale shark trip ethical?

No source can certify one as ethical, and a fairer question is which practices you are willing to pay for. A trip that watches sharks feeding at a working platform under the published rules differs from one where crews are paid to hold an animal in place. You often cannot tell them apart from a brochure. This site also has a stake in your answer: requests through the desk can lead to a paid booking, so we have a commercial interest, and you should weigh this page with that in mind.

What can a visitor do about it?

1. Ask in writing: does anyone on this trip, or on the bagan, add bait or hand fish to the sharks? Does the bagan fee pay for bait?
2. Ask what the guide does when another boat breaks the rules or a shark is being fed.
3. Read the whale shark rules before you get in, then keep your distance and leave lights and hands off, whatever others around you do.
4. Choose nights in the village over a pass-through visit if local income matters to you, given the tourism head's complaint above.
5. Tell the seller beforehand that you do not want to pay for baiting, and ask what changes on the trip as a result.

What do people ask about Saleh Bay whale shark ethics?

Are whale sharks fed in Saleh Bay?

Some appear to be. A Traveloka guide says a bagan fee includes small shrimp bait, and Ocean Earth Travels and SB Excursions, both operators, describe extra bait or hand-feeding at some platforms. How often this happens has not been measured.

Is Saleh Bay like Oslob?

Not in design. Oslob is built on provisioning, while Saleh Bay encounters happen at working fishing platforms and an IUCN factsheet supports older natural feeding. Baiting reports mean the line is not clean, and nobody has measured it at Saleh Bay.

Does the bagan fishery harm whale sharks?

It is an open question. Konservasi Indonesia warns of dependency on bagans, and a scientist quoted by Mongabay worries that expansion could leave too little food. No published study we know of measures that harm directly in Saleh Bay.

What should I ask a Saleh Bay operator about feeding?

Ask whether crews add bait or hand fish, whether the bagan fee pays for bait, and how the guide responds if a shark is fed. Ask for the answers in writing, since operator statements on this point vary, sometimes within one company.

Does whale shark tourism money reach local people in Saleh Bay?

Partly, on the available evidence. A 2026 study backed by Sumbawa Regency found improved local welfare and said benefits need stronger distribution. The Langkah Travel says fees reach a village fund and enterprise, and no public accounts confirm that here.

Which sources support this page?

• Traveloka: Sumbawa whale shark guide (listing)
• Ocean Earth Travels: whale sharks of Saleh Bay (operator)
• Ocean Earth Travels: ethics of whale shark tourism in Indonesia (operator)
• The Langkah Travel: Saleh Bay whale shark guide (operator)
• The Langkah Travel: Sumbawa whale shark tours (operator)
• SB Excursions: swimming with whale sharks in Indonesia (operator)
• IUCN shark specialist group: Saleh Bay Important Shark and Ray Area factsheet
• Konservasi Indonesia: 2024 Saleh Bay expedition
• Frontiers in Marine Science: 2025 paper on Indonesian whale shark aggregations
• IUCN Red List: whale shark
• Indonesian marine ministry legal database: Decree 18/KEPMEN-KP/2013
• Konservasi Indonesia: 2025 whale shark report for Saleh Bay
• Mongabay: 10-year whale shark satellite study and new protected area
• The Jakarta Post (AFP): decade-long study of whale shark hotspots
• FAO AGRIS: record of a 2024 study on Saleh Bay whale shark tourism
• Konservasi Indonesia: from fear to conservation in Labuan Jambu
• Antara: keeping whale sharks and people in balance in Saleh Bay
• Suara NTB: lodging shortage at Labuan Jambu
• Liputan Sumbawa: study of whale shark tourism and local welfare
• Royal Society Open Science: Oslob provisioning and residency
• Scientific Reports: energetic cost of provisioning at Oslob
• The Travel Shortcut: diving with whale sharks in Saleh Bay (travel blog)
• Peter Orsel: swimming with whale sharks in Sumbawa (travel blog)

How do I reach the desk?

If you hold a source that changes anything on this page, send it to the desk on WhatsApp +62 811-3941-4563 or by email at bd@juaraholding.com. If you ask about a trip, ask the bait question there too. The answer only binds anyone once it is in a written offer.