Shark Crusader

Ocean Ramsey spends her days diving with great whites and hammerheads so that the rest of us might better understand a species in peril.

- Keith Gordon

If some people are destined for a specific career, then Ocean Ramsey—yes, that’s her real name—was meant to become a preeminent shark and marine researcher and conservationist. From her home base on Oahu, Ramsey has travelled the world to study sharks in their diverse habitats and bring awareness to the threat that numerous shark species currently face. She’s also an advanced free diver (a diver without a breathing apparatus), scuba instructor, business owner, and designer. When she’s not travelling the world free diving, she’s at home in Hawaii working at her own company, One Ocean Research and Diving.

Her cause went viral when she was caught on tape riding the back of a fully grown great white shark with no cage or other protection. There’s also the fact that she’s attractive enough to be a model and does much of her work in barely-there bikinis. Maxim spoke to the 30-year-old about her conservation work, her time in the Bahamas, and what it’s like to ride a great white.

How did you get into shark conservation?

My parents love the ocean, and I imagine part of the reason I love that environment must come from growing up the way I did. I have a degree in marine biology, specialised in ethology (animal behaviour), and studied specifics on shark body language, how they establish their social hierarchy and avoid confrontations. But, I realised that if I only focused on studying sharks and publishing papers, then another 600 million sharks would die while I conducted my six-year study. That realisation was the point when everything clicked. I knew I needed to take the science, conservation, diving, and all aspects to a new level with a new approach, so I co-founded the company, One Ocean Research and Diving.

What does your organisation do?