Shark Whisperer

Synopsis:  Ocean Ramsey swims with sharks, and advocates for laws to protect them.

Would you watch a documentary called Squirrel Whisperer? I would. Squirrels are jerky and jittery critters, so it would be impressive if a person could whisper a squirrel into a state of calmness. 

You’ve probably heard tell of horse whisperers. The movie The Horse Whisperer (1998) based on the novel of the same name, featured a weathered but appealing man who could calm troubled horses with gentle training. The knowledgeable horseman was played by 70’s heartthrob Robert Redford. He runs a horse rehab out west where a woman (Kristin Scott Thomas) and her young daughter (Scarlett Johansson) heal after the girl is in a traumatic accident whilst riding her horse. Along the same lines, the excellent documentary Buck (2011) follows a real-life hero who basically provides therapy to misunderstood equines. 

Being able to understand the mind of another species is impressive. These people are known as whisperers. There are even baby whisperers, interpreting wahhs and wiggles. 

But what about sharks? Could these a-social apex predators ever do anything but devour swimmers-by? I know we are told that shark attacks are actually rare and that sharks probably attack humans by accident, thinking a surfboard is a seal or a swimmer is an injured fish. But that doesn’t make them less scary.

So, what the heck is going on in Shark Whisperer? How could a person survive routinely swimming with sharks, let alone “whispering” into their little puncture-sized sharky ears? And what would a person say, maybe: I’m not tasty.

Ocean Ramsey is the shark whisperer of the documentary Shark Whisperer. She is a diver and conservationist who studies sharks. She’s a native Hawaiian who has been fascinated by sharks since she was a child. Me too; fascinated by the idea of staying far from them.  Like many people, I reduce my chance of shark attack by staying out of the ocean. Insanely, Ocean’s interest in these deadly creatures leads her to spend as much time diving with them as possible. Yes, she actually goes places where sharks are likely to be. Yikes…

Ocean has millions of followers online, where she features pictures of her photogenic self among sharks in Hawaii’s waters. She really likes tiger sharks. They can grow to 15′ and have 48 sharp serrated teeth. Ocean loves their faint stripes.

Ocean dives into the water, sometimes balling herself up at the surface if she wants a shark to come over and investigate. Dear God. She explains that she stretches her body out vertically, faces the sharks and pushes them away if they get too close.

She also likes to freedive, ie., holding one’s breath whilst swimming underwater. Ocean says she can hold her breath for six and a half minutes. I suppose hypoxia would be a less terrifying way to die than by shark attack. Either way, Ocean is a big risk taker.

Photographing all of this madness is her partner Juan Oliphant, a fellow ocean lover. He spent a lot of time surfing, but after he met Ocean, it seems that he started devoting a lot more time to underwater photography. The way to this woman’s heart was clearly through sharks.

Ocean informs us that she has been collecting data sets on sharks for fifteen years. She says that the tiger sharks have their own social hierarchies when they swim in loose groups. Interesting. I’ve read about one study that says great whites will not infrequently travel with another shark. Are they pals? I guess, since they are not attacking each other.

Ocean is knowledgeable about shark behavior. But I was worried she’d meet the same fate as the Grizzly Man who hung out with grizzlies in Alaska. Until one of them mauled him to death. Other shark experts are interviewed who think her behavior is foolish.

 Important to know: Ocean wants to stop shark fishing, including finning, a cruel practice wherein the sharks are hauled in, their dorsal (top) fins sawed off and then the rest of their bodies dumped. They either suffocate on killing floors or live for a while after being tossed back in the ocean from fishing boats. Ocean investigated shark fin markets in Asia where the dishes made from fins are popular. She spread awareness by posting footage online. 

Ocean can identify many of the tiger sharks by sight. Some of them have cute names, like Nikki. Some are aggressive. Others are more relaxed. My favorite is Roxy, a big female tiger shark who has a severely broken jaw which makes it hard for her to hunt well.

At some point in her life, she was hooked by sportfishermen, who mechanically hoisted her whole body out of the water by the huge hook ripped through her jaw. All for photo opportunities. Ocean says she can’t imagine how painful the hooking and aftermath was. Yeah, people who get off on such things are POS.

Ocean and Roxy decide to start a sort of anti-Jaws program. The huge, enduring popularity of the 1975 movie Jaws about a great white shark off America’s New England coast who starts picking off swimmers still instills fear in people. Sadly, as Peter Benchley, the writer of the book Jaws feared, the popularity of the movie may have created further antipathy for great whites, leading to shark hunts. Great white sharks are listed as a vulnerable species.

Ocean and Juan travel to Guadalupe, Mexico. The waters there are a reputed hot spot for great whites. If I ever go to Guadalupe, I will be sure to NOT go in the water. Now, people can, and do, survive a tiger shark bite. For example, it might just be an investigatory bite–the sharks being curious. How cute. And people can survive great white bites too. However, they are massive, with all of the power that that suggests and they have about 300 teeth. Yes, 300. Even for a predator, that sounds like overkill.

But Ocean is unafraid. Into the water she goes, inside a shark cage, looking for great whites. A great white comes along, curious about the novel structure with what smells like possible food inside. What does Ocean do? She swims out of the f***ing cage. 

You should really see the footage to see what happens next. I will say, she survives. Is this enough death-defying for one person? Certainly! But not for Ocean. Later, back in Hawaii, a whale carcass draws tiger sharks. Ocean and crew are observing from a boat. Suddenly, the sharks scram. What could scare a shark?! Godzilla? Yes. How about a bigger shark? Yes, to that too. 

All I will say is that Ocean can’t resist getting into the water, whereas I would have myself teleported to landlocked Iowa. 

One result of her adventure is a photo of Ocean swimming with a great white. I think I know why the shark didn’t eat her. 1) The shark was totally bloated on whale flesh. It’s even more ravenous than a Labrador Retriever. 2) The shark is too shocked to do anything. If you look at the shark’s face it actually has an expression that asks, what the actual hell is happening?

Don’t watch Shark Whisperer just for the interviews with Ocean and other shark experts. The story also follows the progress of Ocean’s efforts to pass legislation protecting sharks in Hawaii’s waters.

I came out of the movie supporting shark protection, but it also reinforced the idea of shark protection for me; I’ll be staying out of the sea. 

Now somebody needs to make that Squirrel Whisperer movie so I can relax.

Movie Loon’s Movie Review Shortcut:

Grade:   B

Cut to the Chase: Incredible footage, an intriguing profile and important messages on marine conservation.

Humor Highlight:   The mystified great white when Ocean touches them.