Ocean Ramsey | |
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![]() Ramsey in trailer for She is the Ocean, 2018 film | |
Born | 1987 (age 36–37) |
Occupation(s) | Conservationist and Model |
Website | Ocean Ramsey.com |
Ocean Ramsey is a freediver and model. [1] [2] She operates One Ocean Diving, LLC in Hawaii, a company which facilitates dives with marine life. [3] She gained international media attention for free diving with sharks, including great white sharks, to bring attention to sharks and her business. [4] [2] [5] [6] 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, [7] though some have suggested it was actually Haole Girl. [8] The encounter was captured by Ramsey’s fiancé, Juan Oliphant, and the footage received worldwide media attention. [9]
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." [10] [11]