I am the shark whisperer — my critics are just jealous

Times

15 hours ago

From the brilliant azure of the Pacific Ocean emerges a giant of the deep, its black eyes and pale belly gliding silently through the water.
For most, the sight of an approaching great white shark would trigger terror and an urge to escape as quickly as possible.
But Ocean Ramsey is not like most swimmers. She is a 'shark influencer', a former model who posts viral videos of her petting the terrifying maneaters to her 2.2 million followers on Instagram.
Now her work is the subject of a Netflix documentary by an Oscar-winning director, titled Shark Whisperer, that has drawn withering denunciation from critics.
In the eyes of her fans, she is a heroic campaigner for animal welfare. To wildlife experts, she is a shameless self-promoter who glamorises reckless risk-taking and puts lives in danger.
In an interview with The Times this week, Ramsey insisted she was raising awareness of sharks as misunderstood beasts. She said some of the criticism was fuelled by jealousy of her appearance in swimwear.
Scientists disagree.
'I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a legitimate scientist or conservation advocate who thinks she's anything but harmful,' said Professor David Shiffman, a marine biologist based in Washington.
This view is echoed around the scientific community. Dr Chris Lowe, marine biologist and director of the shark lab at California State University, Long Beach, says: 'If you talk to any wildlife expert, they're going to tell you that you shouldn't touch animals, period.
'It just makes people think of them like pets, and they're not — they behave completely differently. Sharks don't need to be hugged, they don't want to be hugged. They don't even want to be touched. It's cavalier, it's presumptuous, and it's just a matter of time before somebody gets hurt.'
The accusations do not bother Ramsey, who is in her thirties. 'I know that it's there and I know it's going to be there,' she says of criticism. 'It doesn't matter if you're Mother Teresa and you're trying to do the best thing in the world, which is what I feel like I'm trying to do.'
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'There's always a risk of copycat behaviour,' Shiffman says of fans viewing her videos and underestimating the danger posed by sharks.
But, she adds, 'I don't think anyone watches a video of somebody that's an expert at riding a motorcycle or skydiving or doing anything as a professional in extreme situations and thinks, 'Oh, I watched this one movie, so I'm going to go try it.' Most people have common sense.'
Ramsey has spent her life in the water. Her parents were both divers — Ocean is in fact her birth name — and she grew up in Hawaii, from where she works as a conservationist.
She has more than 2.2 million Instagram followers eager to devour videos of her underwater close encounters.
Ramsey, has worked as a professional runway model, owns a sustainable swimwear line and has dabbled in Hollywood stunt work, suggests some of the criticism she faces stems from her status as a woman working in science.
Trolls often comment on the swimsuits she wears. 'Showing her ass,' as one commenter featured in the Netflix documentary said. Ramsey shrugs off the complaints as the grumblings of 'jealous or hateful' social media trolls.
Lowe and other shark experts level more substantive criticisms than Ramsey's choice of bikini.
Approaching sharks in the wild not only endangers swimmers but the fish too, they argue. Every shark attack damages the species' public reputation, harming conservation efforts.
'We don't really understand why if you're out [in the water] minding your own business a shark comes up and bites you,' Lowe says. 'But that's very different from you approaching a shark or getting close enough to where you want to pet it, or chase the shark to ride it. That's just plain old crazy.'
Ramsey counters that the affinity with marine life she has developed since childhood means she can co-exist peacefully with the animals she adores.
'I've been around them so much that I've been able to learn their body language,' she says, adding that she can spot small cues signifying danger. 'That gives me a big heads-up on how inquisitive they might be, how disinterested they might be, what maybe their temperament is at that moment.'
Lowe disagrees. Even dogs, which humans have domesticated for thousands of years, still attack, he points out, so no matter how experienced a diver is the risk of a shark bite is always significant.
Ramsey, who uses her profile to raise awareness of declining shark populations, hopes the Netflix documentary will help fight the so-called Jaws effect. Spielberg's 1975 movie ushered in the era of the summer blockbuster but, according to experts, may have harmed conservation efforts due to its depiction of great whites as unstoppable killing machines.
About 274,000 sharks are killed around the world each day, many targeted for their fins. Yet Ramsey senses a shift in global public opinion. The US and UK banned the buying and selling of shark fins in 2023.
'I'm glad to be a part of it, I feel like that's my whole point and purpose of being alive right now,' Ramsey says. Given the danger she puts herself in, fans and detractors fear disaster could strike.
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If the worst were to happen, Ramsey only hopes that she is blamed and not the sharks. 'I've had an incredible life,' she says. 'I've had the most amazing encounters and experiences, and I feel like I was put here at this moment in time to make an impact and speak up for them.
'If something unfortunate happens, that's 100 per cent on me.'
Her critics would surely agree.