| Ocean Ramsey | |
| Birth Place: | Oahu, Hawaii |
| Occupation: | 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 20feet 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]