Oh well.
I'm sure you've seen the news.
Three very large and very rotund female GWS were seen feasting on a dead Sperm Whale floating off Oahu.
This could have been such an inspiring moment.
- One could have marveled at the exceptional serendipity of witnessing such a rare and wonderful natural event, as per the beautiful and respectful description of who experienced the first mesmerizing encounter.
- One could have mentioned Michael and Nicole's seminal paper about the life cycle of the NE Pacific GWS population, and speculated whether those females may be actually pregnant (not a given!) and bulking up in the SOFA and beyond like described therein, or whether they may just be very chubby after gorging on whale meat.
- One could have marveled at the fact that not one but three such large females have made it to Hawaii and speculated about the possible reasons (Climate Change? El Niño? Just happenstance? An outbreak of Wanderlust?), and could have tried to identify them based on Nicole's Guadalupe ID Guide (= that Shark with Ramsey is not Deep Blue).
- One could have reminisced about this small paper about very large GWS scavenging on whales, and wondered whether the placid disposition of those Sharks may have been an indicator for postprandial torpor.
- One could have mentioned all the scientific questions that still remain unanswered.
- One could have even wondered about the wisdom, or lack of, of dive operators throwing in all those unprotected snorkelers atop large scavenging Sharks, and this in open ocean - and about the uncritical willingness of those punters to be thusly thrown, see further below!
- Hell, one could have gone so far to engage in idle speculation about why those mamas did not chomp on the aforementioned punters! The torpor and/or energy preservation, coupled with a far easier, better smelling and way juicer meal nearby? An already nicely filled belly? No search image for humans as prey? Too much commotion? No attack on alert prey by what is essentially an ambush predator? Pervaded by the Aloha Spirit?
Not gonna happen, alas.
Like she has obviously intended, the token disrespectful self-promoting bimbette and her selfish shit show have sucked all the oxygen out of the room.
But thankfully and likely not as intended, the reactions by the public are overwhelmingly negative - and have you seen how now she is squirming and obfuscating trying to justify her feat?
Girl, dozens upon dozens of people have far more experience with Sharks, have done far more for them, and yet never put themselves in the foreground!
But thankfully and likely not as intended, the reactions by the public are overwhelmingly negative - and have you seen how now she is squirming and obfuscating trying to justify her feat?
Girl, dozens upon dozens of people have far more experience with Sharks, have done far more for them, and yet never put themselves in the foreground!
But first, watch.
Source.
I mean, seriously, what a fucking fiasco!
No don't worry, I'm not gonna unleash.
I'd rather defer to others who are way more intelligent and have spoken up much more clearly and politely than I ever could, to wit Michael Domeier's post about the total hypocrisy of "Ocean" Ramsey.
Indeed, see any resemblance whatsoever between Ramsey's sanctimonious description and her frantic barging in ahead of everybody else and harassing the Shark in the above video?
You may also want to read and above all, understand this post about the likely consequences of that selfish shit. But Oliphant will do every I can to make it happen again!
Obviou$ly!
And the fucking, old and tired Raising Awareness, yada yada?
Michael and David are absolutely correct: this is nothing but a serial Shark molester harassing a Shark (watch - did anybody say 6 meters? Hmmmm....), and this solely to pose for image$!
But you sure gotta love the praise by the hypocritical King of Shark Porn for the hypocritical Queen of Shark Molesting - legendary shark conservationist my ass!
And poor Riley STILL just doesn't get it!
But you sure gotta love the praise by the hypocritical King of Shark Porn for the hypocritical Queen of Shark Molesting - legendary shark conservationist my ass!
And poor Riley STILL just doesn't get it!
Anyway.
It's same old same old - really hardly worth a mention were it not for those poor naive fans and followers who are being conned by the slick media and all those insufferable platitudes, and continue to admire all those hypocritical media whores and their disrespectful feats.
So, people, THINK - especially you researchers and operators who continue to associate with, and even defend those folks despite of all the evidence!
In diesem Sinne - let's go Shark diving!
Respectfully!
Respectfully!
Comments Policy: please post your comments here and not on FB.
FYI this is not a chatroom, comments are being monitored and I reserve the right to publish, or to delete whatever I please - and no, this got nothing to do with freedom of speech and everything to do with Dunning-Kruger!
My blog my rules! :)
PPS - Martin here!
PPPS - well yes maybe - but then again, coming after a decade of very public Shark harassment, it sounds hollow; the more as the punters that are so obviously clue- and reckless may be taking those risks precisely because of all the publicity, and glorification of her feats, and the public belittling of the associated dangers!
PPPPS - Patric here. Well said, Sir - eloquent and totally on point as always!
And I cite, The same stunt with bears, wolves, tigers and gorillas would land you in jail, if done with the exact same shark at Guadalupe Island you would be fined and jailed.
PPPPPS - Well said Danny! :)
PPPPPPS - great post by Michelle here - torpor included! :)
PPPPPPPS - Indeed!
PPPPPPPPS - more hypocritical rubbish by the King of Shark Porn. Well, maybe there would not be such a need to change perspectives and creating massive global awareness had you not been so successful in creating the media that demonize Sharks in the first place, to wit e.g. this horrible piece of horse manure you produced!
PPPPPPPPPS - sweet, we got ourselves a tussle among Shark bimbettes! How quaint! I swim with them for pure enjoyment = not for camera? Right, hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.....
PPPPPPPPPPS - and we got ourselves yet another beauty! Yay! This would be one of Mauricio's
PPPPPPPPPPPS - more by Michael here and here!
PPPPPPPPPPPPS - And for god's sake, whether you believe Lemuria is modern day Hawaii or not, leave the poor dolphins alone! Figure out how to talk to them from the shore or something. Hahahahahahahahaha!
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPS - the bloody Whale carcass has drifted back onshore - and hopefully stays there!
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPS - and we got ourselves one more visitor - which begs the question, what is going on: is this exceptional or is it the norm, and we are just finding out about it now?
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPS - The question is, how can we interact with animals and leave their habitat better than we found it? This is why shark diving and shark tourism in marine protected sanctuaries (where fees collected by dive operators and government go towards habitat preservation) are an inspiring alternative. Hear hear!
13 comments:
Well said.
You beat me to it. I share your sentiments. It's all about getting media exposure for them. OR knew that the shark she was with was not Deep Blue, but claimed it was her so she could sell her footage to all the media outlets due to the notoriety of Deep Blue.
For me the most exciting thing was that there are actually other massive females around and that Deep Blue is not an exception.
Doc Domeier talked about the fact that all the divers in the water actually scared the shark of a food source, something that could well be detrimental for the sharks, given the fact that they are not exactly in a target rich environment there.
Once again O Ramsey PROVES that when faced with the option,white sharks prefer whale blubber over skinny blond girl EVERY TIME.
#coexistence
To be honest, I have seen a huge shift amongst Asians especially from hating sharks or being afraid of sharks to loving and being a little less afraid of sharks through her social media. Lucky for her she is also blonde and skinny and that makes any move of hers so easy to not be criticized. Good on her for changing haters to lovers of sharks on that front but after I saw this video, all I could think of is “damn she kept that video away” (until someone decided to share it)... in that video, I see is harassment of that poor shark and depriving him from having a good Whaley meal. Touching is so bloody unnecessary!! Oh and her silly fiancé who will do anything for $$ through media! Sad times we live in!!
Blonde? Blonde!
In the words of the great James Bond, 'As long as the collar and cuffs match'.
I don't think so.
To some degree we are all narcissists and seek exposure to some degree at the expense of others be it animal or human. My biggest fear with this type of behaviour however, is that it encourages people to think it is safe to swim with white sharks when the reality is far more complex and situationaly conditional. Ocean and Juan are not stupid people however their behaviour and actions influence people who are. The implications of an idiot being bitten is only going to harm the animals Ocean and Juan claim the seek to protect.
In the video, "Ocean" Ramsey snorkels up to the shark (barging through everyone else), finning normally, reaches out, touches it - and then starts swimming as if she's a constipated dolphin. What the hell is that all about? Actually, not only is it daft [Look at me! I'm a humanoid marine mammal at one with the cosmos and blending love vibes with this awesome apex-predator who would never hurt me [Are you sure you're filming this, you idiot, it could go global?]], but it is seriously dumb. And she's meant to know what she's doing. Note there are some dolphins milling around in the background. One plausible reason the GWS didn't have her for a snack is because it didn't know what the hell she is - probably had no search engine for BBNAS (bleached-blonde-narcissistic-attention-seeker). On more than one occasion when I very nearly got myself bitten by sharks (I know, I know, I'm a slow learner) - silkies/grey reefs/silvertips - I entered the water with dolphins present and, I am convinced, the sharks thought, thanks to my clumsy swimming technique, that I was an injured dolphin. Their behaviour switched instantly as in (I believe) I filled the bill for injured marine mammal. One such neuron firing in that GWS's brain and "Ocean" Ramsey's love bomb motion in the ocean would have been ended in an appalling, but unsurprising commotion.
Ahhh yusssss! I’ve been waiting for this blog for days :) I hadn’t seen that full video until now either. Sheeeesh. In response to Domeiers post, she said multiple defensive things, one of which was criticising Domeier for not sharing his sat tag information?...I guess his papers and actual research mean nothing compared to her snorkel tours? And also something along the lines of .. “ I wish you knew how hard I worked all day that day trying to make sure none of those 60 people got munched” , seemingly without considering why all those 60 people decided they could be so bold in the first place.
Her explanation on Instagram is priceless. "There were so many people who didn't know what they were doing around the shark, she, the highly edumacated and trained (by whom?) shark professional selflessly sacrificed her body to protect the shark".
As you said, I wonder where those snorkelers got the idea that it was a good thing to snorkel this close to a GWS?
Also, if the sharks are so freaking harmless, as she claims, why was she concerned? Why do you need a trained shark safety expert? Could it be that she actually knows these animals are not freaking pets and just does these stunts to self promote? ..... nah, she would never do that.
I would hazard a guess that the reason she kept her body between those other snorkelers and the shark is so that all the video would only feature her, the world famous shark savior and all around shark expert, and not some other nobody who would could steal her thunder.
mhhh - I knew it would't stop with her justification on the insta post...
looks like Skyler Thomas picking it up and targeting Domeier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEdh8XDKWOs&t=
So I guess its turned into a "Whose hand is heavier" debate?! Im seeing researchers falsely accused of killing animals in defense of OR bad choice. Nobody asked her to be the poster child of free swimming with WSs. Thats a positions she chose. She has experience in this subject and knew what to expect. People were slamming it way before researchers weighed in on the subject. I find it hysterical when parties who spend so much time anthropomorphizing these animals get attacked by their own anthropomophasizers lmao. But now to turn it on researchers whose work actually takes part in creating policy and protection is reckless. Seriously, does anyone really think pictures of her swimming with a shark will change policies??? Ive also noticed she claiming her act has forwarded a bill to protect sharks and rays!? Damn within 6 days she did all that?! Funny, when you check on the bill theres no mention of OR. I tried finding her postings pertaining to the bill or even the former SB2079. I found nothing up until 6 days ago. Granted I could only stomach going back a few months. Same story with the FL fin ban... Oh yeah, she claimed that one last night during a CNN interview. I know of the parties that have been pushing the fin ban and it wasnt OR. In that interview, she also claimed to be permitted to research whites and the whale carcass...Last I checked, her permit was for Tiger shark OBSERVATION only. I never had an issue with her touching the animal or enjoying a swim with it. My issue was with the sh@t show it created. The offering of charters. The mob around the animals and carcass. The interruption of a very important natural feeding event. Nothing about that event screamed advocacy, protection, or conservation imo. It actually went against it. These so called "jealous" researchers do not pretend sharks are cuddly, they do not pretend research isnt invasive, both have worked hard towards less invasive measure in their research, and both are more than qualified to have an opinion on the shark shart show. The next time I make a public comment pertaining to HMS policies and amendments, I can assure you it will be research I cite, not a picture of OR riding a shark...
Two words:
Shark Kardashian
You are welcome.
The only way that Ocean Ramsey's 15 years of swimming with sharks will benefit the public regarding an education of great white sharks, their role in the ocean as apex predators, and the proper way for humans to interact with them, is for her to be eaten; just think Timothy Treadwell.
The fishy thing about her that I don't feel comfortable with is her vanity - she is so vain that it is hard for me to be certain she really cares about the sharks as much as she cares about her business, modeling, and social media. Call me old-fashioned, but I like my heroes to wear a disguise :)
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