Author recommends tuna swim for tourism

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CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A U.S. author who had the chance to swim with tuna while visiting Canada's Prince Edward Island said similar swims could be a major tourist draw.

Carl Safina, a teacher at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y., and author of "Song for the Blue Ocean" and other books about how the ocean is changing over time, said she swam with a group of tuna off North Lake while visiting Prince Edward Island, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday.

Safina said tuna swimming could become a major tourist draw for Prince Edward Island.

"I think it would really change people's relationship with these fish in a way that is similar to what people do on coral reefs. There are a lot of fish on coral reefs. But the big money is in letting people dive on reefs and letting them just see how the fish really are," Safina said. "There's an opportunity in P.E.I., and maybe even in parts of New Brunswick, to actually get in the water with these really, really amazing giant fish."

However, Ross Keus, who took Safina out on his boat, said he does not expect tuna swimming to take off due to safety concerns and the high price of liability insurance.

"Divers could get caught in nets, and if there happens to be a person fighting a tuna on a hook and line, the line is zipping tight and it could cut through you quite easily," he said.