The Leisure and Cultural Services Department probably overreacted to the sighting of a suspected whale shark off Lamma Island on Sunday by closing 12 beaches across the city - missing a chance to educate people about marine preservation, says a conservationist.
The beaches in Island and Southern districts were reopened yesterday when there were no further reports of shark sightings.
Samantha Lee Mei-wah, a marine conservation officer with WWF Hong Kong, said the closure could have been unnecessary.
'The department could have overreacted a bit. Instead of issuing warnings, the department could have made use of this opportunity to educate the public about sharks,' she said.
The department should draw up more detailed guidelines to decide which shark sightings would prompt beach closures instead of a blanket warning against all sharks.
A department spokesman said yesterday that the shark was large and could have been a tiger shark. 'Although we could not ascertain the species of the shark, we considered it necessary to close the beaches to safeguard the safety of swimmers and to do further surveillance.'
Lee said whale sharks feed on plankton and pose no threat to humans, unlike aggressive predator species such as tiger sharks, bull sharks and great whites. Whale sharks are found in tropical waters and are extremely popular with divers who take the chance to swim among the gentle giants. Unconfirmed reports have some whale sharks reaching 16 metres in length.