
Ocean Ramsey knows how to assert her dominance.
The professional shark diver and marine conservationist broke down her survival strategy when coming in close contact with a great white shark while speaking to Australian News SunriseOn7 about the release of her recent Netflix documentary, Shark Whisperer, which premiered in June.
While some people’s first instinct would presumably be to panic and swim away from the apex predator, Ramsey — a trained pro with decades of experience and education on the topic — revealed that she does the exact opposite, and suggests others do the same should they find themselves in a dangerous situation in the water.
“They have incredible sensory systems,” the professional diver, 38, said of the great white shark species, also known as the largest predatory fish on our planet. “They can feel your heartbeat. They sense how you move in the water, so it is best to stay nice and calm.”
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In fact, Ramsey — whose mesmerizing dives and close encounters with sharks seen on her social media has attracted her over 1 million followers across platforms — says that education is at the core of her posts online.
“That’s part of the reason I do what I do. I want to share this important information on what to do if a large predatory species swam up to you so that you could avoid an adverse interaction,” she said during the segment.
Ramsey pointed to “pervasive sensationalized films like Jaws” as one of the reasons why “panic” is the “natural human reaction” when in the presence of sharks. As a result, the animal is likely to get confused and mistake the situation.
“[Humans] splash and thrash like an injured animal and that just evokes that predatory curiosity, when really what you should do is stay calm,” she stressed. “Look at them, face them — and if anything, swim at them and then slowly back away anytime that they’re turning away.”
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“Really replacing that fear and information with empowerment and what to do in those situations,” the Hawaii native continued. “But most of the time, again, you can see the footage. Sharks generally don’t really care about us too much.”
Ramsey recalled her dives with great white sharks when swimming in the oceans off of Australia’s Neptune Islands, which is one of two groups of islands located close to the entrance to Spencer Gulf in South Australia.
“It’s incredible to get to know what they’re really like,” she said.
Elsewhere in the news segment, the hosts clarified that Ramsey isn’t encouraging others to swim with sharks like she does for safety purposes and stressed that she’s a professional. Ramsey, too, doubled down on the warning.
“Yes, that’s very important and I try to emphasize that,” she said in reference to the close encounters and interactions she has with the big fish.
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Coming face-to-face with sharks is nothing new for Ramsey, who recently detailed a close encounter with a tiger shark after turning her back on the apex predator. Like her aforementioned tip, she revealed eye contact was the secret to her safety during the swim.
In a video shared on Instagram, Ramsey is seen swimming beside a tiger shark identified as Luana, who approaches her in the water out of “curiosity” from behind.
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“Here you can see I’m sinking in the water calm. I’ve got my back turned to the shark, which does evoke a little bit more of a comfort and curiosity, so she comes to inspect me,” she says in a voiceover on the clip shared on TikTok.
As the tiger shark swims very close to the conservationist, she reveals her go-to safety methods to prevent the predator from putting her in a potentially dangerous situation. Redirecting and eye contact are the two she used in this instance.
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“I give her really solid eye contact from behind, so she turns off,” she explains. “But again, [the shark] is just curious. As I redirect her, she doesn’t really push into me. So, just again, very curious. They are capable, but generally more cautious than curious.”
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Ramsey spoke with PEOPLE exclusively in early June about her unimaginably close encounters with sharks and why she does it by choice. She also expressed her mission to replace human fear with understanding.
“In order to allow sharks to exist, you have to teach the humans that they’re not monsters,” she told PEOPLE exclusively.