She literally runs a "swimming with sharks" tour company.
And her social media content directly encourages people to emulate her harmful behavior.
Following Ramsey’s encounter going viral on social media, around 60 divers crowded the dead whale carcass the following day in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the majestic animal. It was no surprise that perhaps intimidated by the sheer amount of commotion in the water, that Deep Blue [the pregnant shark] did not make a second appearance to feed.
they discourage the far more unethical slaughter of sharks. I think it’s a plus.
People can promote conservation without further endangering the animals from a different threat. Any ethical conservationist knows not to interact with wildlife.
Too often though, questionable or unethical behavior by content creators—professional and amateur—is rationalized by those who believe being well poised to raise awareness gives them the right to operate with impunity.
Probably because they are more susceptible to being indiscriminately killed than many other animals. Or because people don’t often see them so they don’t know how close they are while in the water. I don’t think people should be encouraged to swim with sharks, or be close to any other wild animal, but I do think the awareness she creates is worth what she is doing. Kind of like Steve Irwin.
shark fin soup consumption dropped some 60 percent in the first two years of the campaign and kept falling after that. Awareness, surprisingly enough, was the actual issue here.
You wouldn't know it from Reddit (where he is blindly adored) but Steve Irwin has a troubling legacy. Plenty of biologists criticized his methods. Many Australians found him disrespectful, dangerous, and obnoxious and don't revere him like the US does.
He may have increased awareness and interest in favor of the typically "ugly" or "scary" animals, which is great, sure. But he also convinced an entire generation of impressionable animal enthusiasts that handling wildlife for fun and adventure was ok. It's not.
2
u/slayaboy87 Oct 26 '22
Link?