Ocean Ramsey | |
|---|---|
 Ramsey in trailer for She is the Ocean, 2018 film | |
| Born | 1987 (age 37–38) |
| Occupation(s) | Conservationist and Model |
| Website | Ocean Ramsey.com |
Ocean Ramsey is an ethologist, conservationist, author, filmmaker, and model. [1] [2] [3] [4] She operates One Ocean Diving, LLC, a company based in Hawaii that facilitates dives with marine life. [5] She gained international media attention for free diving with sharks, including great white sharks, to raise awareness about shark conservation and promote her business. [6] [2] [7] [8] Ramsey is based in Hawaii, and has dived with 47 species of sharks around the world as of 2019. [1]
While filming tiger sharks in Oahu with a film crew, they encountered a 20 ft (6.1 m) long female great white shark, believed to be Deep Blue, [9] though some have suggested it was actually Haole Girl. [10] The encounter was captured by Ramsey’s then-fiancé, Juan Oliphant, and the footage received worldwide media attention. [11]
While she has been praised for raising awareness of the species, she has been criticized for her actions in the footage. Marine biologist Michael Domeier, founding director of the non-profit Marine Conservation Science Institute, criticized Ramsey for appearing in the viral shark interaction video. David Shiffman, a marine conservation biologist who studies sharks, told The Washington Post : "I can't believe that 'please don't grab the 18-foot long wild predator' is something that needs to be explicitly said out loud, but here we are." [12] [13]
