Over the years, we’ve seen quite a few “whisperers” on big and small screens.
People who can seemingly communicate with horses, crocodiles, or any other animal seem invincible.
But have you heard of the shark whisperer?
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at the shark whisperer and discover how she earned her nickname and what she does with her time.
Who is the Shark Whisperer?
Ocean Ramsey was born in 1987 in Oahu, Hawaii.
From an early age, she had a fondness for sharks.
In fact, at just 14 she discovered a passion for swimming with the animals, and this has been her claim to fame since that time.
Ocean Ramsey (yes – that’s her given name) is known for her love for sharks, but she has her hands in quite a few projects.
She self-describes as a marine biologist, shark conservationist, ethologist, and SCUBA instructor.
So, who is the shark whisperer, and what is she doing today?
Ocean Ramsey: The Shark Whisperer
Ocean Ramsey implores people not to see sharks as vicious killers out for blood, but as endangered animals that may not survive very long.
As discussed previously on this site, shark nets are being used off the beaches of Australia and other countries to kill thousands of sharks every season.
These inhumane nets also trap and kill countless other marine animals, including sea turtles and dolphins.
Any time you see sharks in films and on TV, they are usually the bad guys.
The monsters.
From classics like Jaws to modern action flicks like The Meg, great white sharks always make for the perfect bad guys, and that’s changing the way that people view these animals.
Ocean Ramsey has made it her mission to protect sharks, and that begins with changing the public perception.
Ramsey is one of the few people in the world to have openly swum with great white sharks, and she regularly goes ocean diving and snaps pictures alongside these majestic animals.
The vegan activist counts Sylvia Alice Earle (a marine biologist) and Bella (a great white shark) as her role models.
She is the co-founder of One Ocean Diving, which organizes tours and swimming sessions with the ocean’s fiercest and most majestic creatures, and she is also the author of “What You Should Know About Sharks”, a best-selling book about sharks.
Learning More and Helping The Cause
If you’re interested in learning more about Ocean Ramsey and her work as “the shark whisperer”, you can follow her on social media (@oceanramsey on Twitter and Instagram and @OceanRamseyWater on Facebook) or promote some of her cardinal rules for saving sharks:
Ban Shark Fin Soup
As the name suggests, shark fin soup is made from shark fins and is eaten as a luxury dish in parts of China and Taiwan.
It is banned in a dozen US states and Ramsey is hoping to extend that ban across the country.
If shark fin soup is taken off the menu—along with other shark-based dishes—then significantly fewer sharks will be killed every year for their meat.
Shop Smarter
Fishing is often an industrial process.
The fish that you find at your local fish market weren’t caught selectively by an angler sitting on the shores of a calm river.
They were probably caught using trawlers and huge nets, and those nets capture all kinds of marine life, including sharks.
As a shark conservationist, Ocean Ramsey advocates for more eco-friendly and considerate fishing practices.
Reject Shark Culling
Sharks are culled using shark nets.
It’s a barbaric practice that also kills millions of other marine animals and statistics show that it’s not even that effective.
Shark attacks are very rare and the ones that do occur often happen at beaches with nets installed.
Ocean Ramsey advocates for a ban on all shark culling.
Bear in mind that there are other (much more humane) methods of warning beachgoers about incoming sharks, and they don’t need to be mercilessly killed.
Spread the Word
Ocean Ramsey uses ocean diving as a means of capturing sharks in their natural habitats and posts pictures and videos for the world to see.
She swims alongside them and shows people just how beautiful they are.
It helps to raise awareness and spread the message that shark attacks aren’t very common and these creatures need to be saved, not culled.
You can help the cause by posting similar content, following/promoting the causes that help, and donating when and where possible.
