{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,3]],"date-time":"2026-03-03T04:01:27Z","timestamp":1772510487184,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,25]],"date-time":"2025-06-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750809600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Shark ecotourism is an ever-expanding reality, with hundreds of thousands of tourists involved annually. Although it represents a fundamental tool for sharing the urgent need to safeguard sharks with the public, the implications for the health and well-being of sharks must be taken into due consideration. In South Africa, cage-diving has been an important form of ecotourism since the 1990s. In Gansbaai, over a 14-year period from 2009 to 2024, excluding the 2020\u20132021 pandemic years, data was collected from cage diving operators\u2019 boats on the frequency of sightings of white sharks. After approximately 560 h of field observations, averaging about 45 h per year and about 9 h per year between 2023 and 2024, 423 sharks were observed with five re-sightings. We highlighted that the number of sightings did not increase during the presence of cage diving operators and that site fidelity has not been observed by white sharks frequenting this area.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biology14070762","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,1]],"date-time":"2025-07-01T10:45:08Z","timestamp":1751366708000},"page":"762","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Observations on the Frequency of Sightings of White Sharks in the Population of Gansbaai, South Africa, in the Presence of Cage Diving"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0582-3770","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Primo","family":"Micarelli","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Sharks Studies Center\u2014Scientific Institute, 58024 Massa Marittima, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment DSFTA, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8400-1227","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesca Romana","family":"Reinero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sharks Studies Center\u2014Scientific Institute, 58024 Massa Marittima, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Antonio","family":"Pacifico","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sharks Studies Center\u2014Scientific Institute, 58024 Massa Marittima, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Economics and Law, University of Macerata, 62100 Macerata, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9603-6678","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gianni","family":"Giglio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences DIBEST, University of Calabria, 87027 Rende, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Makenna","family":"Mahrer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"W. M. Keck Science Department, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA 91711, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3180-7611","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emilio","family":"Sperone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences DIBEST, University of Calabria, 87027 Rende, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"210","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jenvman.2014.12.018","article-title":"Effects of non-consumptive wildlife-oriented tourism on marine species and prospects for their sustainable management","volume":"151","author":"Burgin","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Environ. Manag."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Higham, J. (2007). Ecotourism: Pondering the paradoxes. 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