Saturday, September 6, 2025

Isla Guadalupe waters closed to shark diving

Since Jan. 10, white shark observation near the island of Isla Guadalupe in Baja California for has been banned indefinitely both for tourists and commercial film productions.

According to Mexico’s new rules in the Isla Guadalupe Biosphere Reserve Management Program, the closure is intended “to avoid altering [the white shark] habitat, behavior and feeding sites and thereby preserve and conserve the species.”

However, local tour operators are concerned that the new management plan, while well-intended, does not have any provision to protect the sharks and prevent illegal fishing.

Isla Guadalupe
The island was made a biosphere reserve in 2005. It, along with its surrounding waters, is home to 158 species of fish and 133 species of marine birds and land animals.

In a recent article, Dive Magazine said that “the liveaboards that visit the region have also, collectively, provided an effective barrier to poachers and illegal fishing activities, as they are present on an almost permanent basis during the six months that the great whites visit Isla Guadalupe each year.”

Liveaboards are tourism boats built generally for recreational scuba divers who want to spend several days diving in deep ocean waters.

The Isla Guadalupe Biosphere Reserve is the only place in Mexico with the presence of white sharks — an endangered species according to the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp).

With reports from Dive Magazine

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Workers install scaffolding in front of a giant Mexican flag

Mexico’s week in review: Bilateral tension and cooperation on display as Mexico welcomes its new judiciary

1
Other headlines included canceled Mexican Independence celebrations in the US, a new Mexican unicorn startup and a win for jaguar conservation.
train track

Maya Train gets final approval for a new freight terminal in Cancún

0
The green light from the Environment Ministry means land-clearing can begin on the new freight teminal, which will involve removing 260 hectares of jungle.

Threat of US immigration raids forces cancellation of Chicago’s Mexican Independence Day celebration

8
The Trump administration has threatened major anti-immigrant action in Chicago, the city with the third-largest Mexican and Mexican American population in the U.S.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity