A Circus Shark Tamer or Conservationist?: Undercurrent 09/2025

A Circus Shark Tamer or Conservationist?

the Shark Whisperer causes controversy

from the September, 2025 issue of Undercurrent

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Undercurrent reviewed the Netflix documentary "Shark Whisperer," featuring Ocean Ramsey, in July. Since then, the production has caused a furor among shark scientists, as well as the shark diving community.

David Shiffman, a board member of the American Elasmobranch Society, wrote in a July 2 blog entitled, "What Ocean Ramsey Does is Not Shark Science or Conservation." He called her a "serial wildlife harasser who also coordinates massive online harassment campaigns against scientists and conservationists who criticize her. Ocean Ramsey claims to be a shark scientist, but is not."

He added, "I've never gotten more or nastier harassment than when I criticized her pseudoscientific nonsense," and even alleges he received death threats from her supporters.

We now live in the age of "influencers." Thanks to YouTube, Instagram, and other digital platforms, people can attract huge audiences simply based on their own good looks and dispense their opinions about products and activities. No doubt, a video-on-demand service like Netflix, with a vast appetite for content, scours these new platforms to search for material to create documentaries. A slim and attractive young woman with long blonde hair who swims with sharks is obviously a seductive subject....

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