Ocean Ramsey says the Netflix documentary “Shark Whisperer,” released in June, furthers her outreach on shark conservation, but she acknowledged that it has increased criticism of her nontraditional research methods.
The show follows Ramsey, a marine conservationist and free diver, as she swims alongside sharks in Hawaii and international waters, calling for their protection and a shift in how they are perceived.
Ramsey said in a phone interview, “People don’t want to protect what they perceive to be a monster.”
She uses her Instagram account, which has millions of followers, to share photos and videos of herself calmly redirecting sharks as they approach her. Ramsey’s work stands to gain even more publicity from the Netflix feature — something supporters of her message, such as waterman Brian Keaulana, see as beneficial, while some shark scientists say her work is performative rather than based on actual research.
Keaulana, a legendary big-wave surfer and lifeguard, has followed Ramsey’s career for years since directing her as a stunt double for water scenes in the early 2000s film “The Reef 2.”
“Her relationship with the marine life and with the ocean is pretty much on another level,” he said in a phone interview. “There’s only a few people in the world that I see like that.”
Keaulana said that Ramsey’s knowledge comes from years of hands-on experience, spending every day in the ocean.
“I think people see the end result and not the journey of the work that was put into her knowledge,” he said. “There’s no such thing as ‘she’s doing it, so I can do it.’”
Keaulana knows that Ramsey has received criticism for the nature of her work.
“Whether it’s good or bad, they’re talking about it, which brings attention to it,” he said. “In any solution you’re gonna find problems, but it’s such a global impact.”
That was the case in 2019 in a clip of Ramsey swimming in Hawaii alongside a 20-foot great white shark. The interaction between Ramsey and the shark, whose pectoral fin she held in a few shots, appeared to be peaceful.
But the moment was mired in controversy because Ramsey disregarded a warning from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, which called for the public to avoid the whale carcass that the shark was feeding on.
Still, that same year, Ramsey was featured in Hawaii Tourism Authority’s “Hawaii Travel Tips: Marine Animal Protection” video as a local “marine conservationist and biologist,” advising visitors on how to respectfully interact with wildlife across the islands.
Jill Radke, HTA public affairs officer, said that the travel tips campaign was “very successful” and “got positive feedback from visitors and residents.” The video was last used by HTA in a news release in 2024.
In the video, Ramsey encourages tourists to “observe and appreciate from a distance” when it comes to marine life in Hawaii.
“If you want to enjoy time with marine life, do a little bit of research on those companies and support those that are environmentally responsible,” Ramsey said in the video.
Dive companies like Ramsey’s One Ocean Diving promote themselves as taking customers out on the ocean to swim with sharks and other animals at a safe distance.
A DLNR database of shark incident reports in Hawaii that tracks when shark attacks were provoked does not list Ramsey’s company or any shark diving companies in Hawaii. However, some Hawaii scientists have expressed concern about the methods that some companies may use to attract sharks to the dive sites.
For science or show?
Carl Meyer, a research professor at University of Hawaii’s Institute of Marine Biology Shark Research Lab, said, “Public perception of sharks has swung from irrational fear — fueled by films like “Jaws” in 1975 — to, in some cases, a mistaken belief that sharks are harmless props for Instagram content.”
Meyer said that it takes years of research to produce controlled meaningful fact-based insights.
“Those findings are then put through the peer-review process, where they’re rigorously examined and challenged by other experts,” he said. “Posing with sharks on Instagram is not scientific research.”
Ramsey said her approach to advocacy focuses on observations made while interacting close-up with different sharks.
“Traditional shark science is mostly done from top side, from the boat,” Ramsey said. “By swimming with them, by learning these methods and by sharing it with others, we both dispel that portrayal of sharks as mindless monsters and replace it with knowledge of how we can coexist.”
But Kim Holland, a research professor at the UH Shark Research Lab who was featured in the “Shark Whisperer” documentary, questions whether there really is a continued need for the destigmatization of sharks.
“There’s been so many shark documentaries that I think the education/ conservation value is reaching a point of diminishing return,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s not novel, it’s just another iteration of the same thing that’s been around for decades now.”
Holland said that the shark scenes in “Shark Whisperer” do not accurately represent all shark behavior.
“The scenarios that were featured in the movie are very atypical,” he said. “You don’t find sharks in those quiescent sort of moods in many situations, it’s an unusual situation.”
In the film, Holland said he believes that Ramsey’s work with sharks is “more for show than it is for science.”
“One of the things about shark attacks is that in almost all cases, the person attacked never knew that they were going to be attacked, so they never had the chance to take evasive action,” he said.
Ramsey said that staying in the water with the sharks she swims with — even after being rushed — has allowed her to observe their behavior and research them in a circumstance that few people put themselves in willingly.
“What that did was fill in a gap of information,” she said. “Conservation is my goal; if I die next week, I am very grateful that I was able to reach more people through my approach.”
Ramsey said that her approach to protecting sharks comes from a place of urgency.
“I realized that in order to make change fast, which is what’s needed for shark populations, I needed to speak to the world,” Ramsey said. “My approach is not through published papers.”
Ramsey acknowledged that social media is “generally kind of taboo for anyone in the scientific community,” but she said that it has the power to reach people who previously knew nothing about sharks and to mobilize people for change.
Advocating globally
One scene in the documentary shows Ramsey visiting a fish market in Hong Kong, where sharks are killed solely for their fins, which are used in the region’s popular dish, shark fin soup.
“When I realized shark finning was going on, and that shark populations were being decimated around the planet for this wasteful bowl of soup, it lit a fire in me,” Ramsey said in the documentary. “Countries all around the world are killing them.”
Ramsey said that the documentary has reached the Top 10 list on Netflix in Hong Kong.
“People over in Hong Kong aren’t swimming with sharks, they’re eating sharks,” she said. “I’ve gone and filmed city block after city block of stores just full of fins.”
She said that because the documentary can reach so many people, “Hawaii is on a global pedestal showing how we should treat wildlife and how we can coexist.”
The Netflix documentary also drew attention to Ramsey’s role in supporting the passage of state House Bill 553, which became Act 51 in 2021 — a first-of-its-kind state law that bans shark fishing.
“Hawaii is a leader,” she said, “the only state under the control of the United States to get mano (sharks) protected. It’s such an opportunity to be proud.”
In the documentary, she is shown rallying support for the legislation. She testified in person at hearings and encouraged others to submit testimony.
Kaniela Ing, former state representative and chair of the now decommissioned House Committee on Ocean, Marine Resources and Hawaiian Affairs, also was featured in the Netflix documentary in footage of a hearing for an initial version of HB 553.
Although the bill didn’t pass while he was in office, Ing remembers supporting the movement to protect the sharks and working to get votes from other legislators. He said that he respects the many community members who worked to pass the bill and remembers Ramsey’s contribution.
But Ing said that he was inspired to write “‘Shark Whisperer’ Villainizes Native Hawaiians Like Me,” an opinion piece published by Time.com on July 9, after receiving hate messages from people who watched the Netflix documentary, which he said did not clarify that he was one of “the earliest and strongest champions of the bill that banned shark fishing.”
“The truth is, Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) ocean protectors have been doing this work for generations,” he wrote.
He told the Star-Advertiser, “I would’ve liked to see that credited more, I get that it’s not as sensational.”
Ing also expressed concern about how others might follow in Ramsey’s footsteps.
“Whether or not you want to frame it as destigmatizing, or part of research and protection, you’re encouraging more people to try and touch wildlife, and that’s exactly what we don’t want,” he said.
Source: The Garden Island