Had a fantastic experience last week at #2025SVP! Terrific talks & posters, enthralling conversations with peers; including some I’ve never met or haven’t seen in years. And of course, a great chance to spend time with the old lab team promoting our collective shark research! 🦈

Media like this can powerful tools for aiding shark conservation, but not if they mislead their audiences.

Shark Whisperer is far from the only bad shark documentary spreading misinformation, but it wound me up enough to the point that I simply had to write about it (7/9)

It even ignores that Ramsey has never shared any data with scientists, data that could potentially be used to inform conservation policy.

Perhaps most egregiously, it omits the very real harm both human & shark suffer when idiotic influencers are hurt trying to get selfies with sharks (5/9)

The film blames shark declines solely on shark finning, which science shows is simply not the biggest driver of shark losses – unsustainable overfishing is.

It also overinflates Ramsey’s role in a Hawaiian shark fishing bill, & its impact on shark conservation, to the point of lying (4/9)

Who is Ocean Ramsey?

She’s a diver who pokes & rides large predatory sharks for Instagram videos all while claiming this is somehow promoting conservation. The problem? This is wildlife harassment, does nothing for shark conservation & can actually harm the sharks; something the film omits (2/9)

🚨New Website blog 🚨 🧵

Did you watch Shark Whisperer on Netflix? I did & it was pseudoscientific rubbish. In this blog, I do a deep dive into the documentary; its subject, Ocean Ramsey; & the harmful effects of “shark influencers” on shark conservation (1/9)

www.drjackacooper.com/writing/shar...

You can officially call me Dr of Sharks now! 🦈 Delighted to have graduated from my PhD yesterday; and to get to celebrate with my family & girlfriend & my brilliant supervisors Catalina & John. The support has been immense & I've made some great pals in Swansea over the 4 years 🦈

New #SciComm! 🦈

Privileged to return to the Shark Stories podcast with Madison Stewart to talk about the huge recent updates to #megalodon science in the 3 years since I originally appeared on the show. Thanks for having me back Madi! 😁

Give her a follow & listen: sharkstories.buzzsprout.com 🦈

Recently appeared on Bristol radio to talk about sharks (what else?) - got to record live in the studio!

You can listen to the recording at the following link. My specific segment is 36-44 minutes in 🦈https://podcasts.canstream.co.uk/bcfmradio/index.php?id=13208

#ScienceCommunication

Had a fantastic night at Edinburgh Blackwells talking to Professor John Long about his new book "The Secret History of Sharks". It's a truly excellent book detailing over 450 million years of shark evolution! Now available at your nearest bookshop in the UK & on Audible 🦈

It’s #WorldBookDay today so no better day to spend reading this gem for an upcoming event 😏 been a great read & I’m learning a lot about the oldie sharky sharks! 🦈

The secret history of sharks by @fossilfish.bsky.social is now available in the UK & on tour. You may even see me at an event or 2 😏🦈

Today I have begun researching & structuring a piece on the infamous "Port" & "Starboard" - a pair of orcas that have killed several great white sharks along the western cape of South Africa since 2017. I was even there interning in Gansbaai when one of the bodies washed up (see pic).

Stay tuned! 🦈

Crazy how in just 2-3 weeks I’ve already passed more followers here than on the other website 😅 & it’s so much nicer here too! 😂

Starter packs are probably to thank for that; which is a great feature for finding your fav shark scientists! 🦈 have a picture of a delightful white shark new followers 😁

Cody Cooper

26/07/08-29/11/24

Rest well my wee kitty. You were my best mate for 16 long years. Always running to the door to say hello when I came home from school & later uni. Always meowing to say ‘hello’ or ‘feed me’ & always wanting to be near people. I’ll miss you buddy 💔

Finally, I've dabbled in documentaries. I'm very proud of an upcoming doc with a famous wildlife host 😉 & of the show "Giants" for curiosity stream where I was part of the "Sharks" episode.

I wish to continue my SciComm pursuits so please do get in touch if you think I can contribute! Cheers!

Additionally, I have led guest seminars & even consulted on exhibits for museums; most recently the "Giants" exhibit in Brussels with the exceptional megalodon spine fossil.

I would love to work more with museums, so my DMs are open to all curators who want to get in touch!

Now that I'm settling into Bluesky, time for a full introduction.

Hello, I'm Dr. Jack Cooper and I like sharks 🦈. I've joined Bluesky from the pitfalls of twitter to keep up to date with the latest science & to find opportunities in Science Communication. Here's a thread of my experience (1/10)

Well by way of introduction; I'm Jack - a freshly viva-ed and completed PhD student in shark palaeobiology and ecology, focusing on their functional diversity.

Additionally, I do a lot of work on megalodon and in public engagement on all things shark. Fellow sharkies, show yourselves! 🦈