Ocean Ramsey


Ocean Ramsey is an environmentalist. She operates One Ocean Diving, LLC in Hawaii, a company which facilitates dives with marine life. She gained international media attention for free diving with sharks, including great white sharks, to bring attention to shark conservation. Ramsey is based in Hawaii, and has dived with 47 species of sharks around the world as of 2019.
Ramsey gained a degree in behavioural sciences from the University of Hawai‘i, and a masters studies in ethology from San Diego State University. While studying tiger sharks in Oahu with a film crew, they encountered a long female great white shark, known as Deep Blue. The encounter was captured by Ramsey’s fiance, Juan Oliphant, and the footage received worldwide media attention.

Controversy

Marine biologist Michael Domeier, founding director of the non-profit Marine Conservation Science Institute, criticised Ramsey for appearing in viral shark interaction videos, stating "The number 1 rule of legitimate shark diving operators is DON'T TOUCH THE SHARKS!" "This is not shark advocacy...it is selfish, self-promotion." 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."