All The Sharks Netflix Review: It's A Must Watch

0:00 Netflix, I owe you an apology. Just when I thought you couldn't get environmental documentaries or environmental shows right, you proved me wrong. You come out with Sea Spears, see a couple of years ago, horrible. Misinformation all over the place makes scientists' job tougher and ocean conservation's job tougher. Then last week you come out with the Shark Whisperer. Ocean Ramsey, a bunch of misleading information, showing shark harassment, not the best. Getting a little better, maybe not. and then friday july fourth you come out with one of the best shows that i have ever seen about sharks it's not just about one shark it's about all of the sharks and it's amazing i'd of the this show and i highly recommend that you watch it and i can tell you why in this episode of the how to protect the ocean podcast let's start the show Hey everybody, welcome back to another exciting episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.

1:05 I am your host, Andrew Lewin, and this is the podcast where find out what's happening with the ocean, how you can speak up for the ocean, and what you can do to live for a better ocean by taking action. On today's episode, we're going to be talking about something that I am very happy to talk about. Last week, I went on a rant and did a review about the Ocean Ramsey Shark Whisperer show on Netflix, documentary on Netflix. It wasn't great, and it kind of consumed me, and I was like, man, it would just be great if netflix or any of the streaming services came out with really great documents now with that said nat geo in the shark fest has some pretty good shows shark week less so but has some pretty good shows so i don't wanna like knock the entire you know media industry about this they have to play up to the controversial things and ocean ramsey and shark whisper it's controversy it got people talking they got into the top ten I didn't like it.

2:01 lot of people didn't like it. A lot of people got criticized for not liking it. A lot of people got criticized for liking it. It's kind of like black and white, not really a lot of gray zone. Some things I like, some things I didn't. A lot of things I didn't. But whatever. Whatever it is. All the sharks though. All of the sharks. It's exciting for me. All of the shark. It's a game show, right? You get points, you get a prize, you win. There are four teams. These teams are made up of scientists, ocean conservationists, scuba divers, journalists and science communicators. What? Are you serious? It's amazing. It is made up of people who enjoy sharks, who enjoy the environment, who enjoy diving, and who bring in great content.

2:41 It was six episodes. I binge watched six episodes one night. It was done. I was happy. And I wanted to talk about it because, like I said before, after talking about the shark whisperer, I want Netflix to get it right. i want nefix to put up shows that are really good for sharks that are really good for ocean science that are really good for ocean conservation that'll inspire people to be amazed by what is out there in the ocean without fearing the ocean and that's what we saw in all the sharks so here's the premise okay before that just a quick jump in if you get inspired by this you wanna know how to protect sharks and how to protect the ocean not only do i want you to subscribe to the show or follow the show but i want you to sign up and join the undertow because the undertow is a place where we're going to build this ocean community we're going to talk about the ocean we're talk about shows like that in more detail and we're going to interact with each other virtually through video through audio it's going to be a lot of fun we're going to find out and guide you on how to protect the ocean through the undertow so go to speak up for blue dot com forward slash join the undertow to join the undertow simple as that here's the premise of the show Okay, you have a host who's hosting four teams.

3:53 They all have names. We're to go through the names. We're going go through who they are. And the whole premise of the show is to get as many pictures of sharks and as many species of sharks as possible, accrue a number of points. And the people at the end of the show who have the most points get first, second, third, fourth. Later on in the episode, some teams get eliminated. And then you have the final episodes with two teams and they go for the gold. They go for the winner. And it's awesome. because these people that are on the teams are scientists, they are young graduate students, they are from all over the world, they are divers, they are photographers, they are journalists, they are science communicators, and they all love the ocean. And I think at one point we talk about a shark bite because someone in the past in this episode got bit by a shark, spoiler alert, but went back and faced her fear over the same type of sharks knowing that she was going to be okay but still faced her fear and that is a genuine fear after you get bit by a shark.

4:50 I've never had that thank God, knock on wood, hopefully it never happens but that is scary and when you have to go back into the water to do something and you overcome it you have overcome so much and I admire the person who did that. Look, this is a show that I think scientists and ocean conservationists have been waiting for for a long time. and we finally got it was entertaining it wasn't supposed to be that entertaining when first watched it i even saw some reviews people like i didn't think it was going to be scientists it's going to be pictures like who cares about finding pictures because i think what a lot of people thought is going to be all tiger sharks bull sharks great white sharks you know all the major sharks no no no these were like stingrays manorays guitar fish wedge fish hound shark You know all these lemon sharks, you know, we did see some bull sharks.

5:40 We did see some tigers There was maybe a thought of great white but nobody saw a great white because they're in without a cage and they didn't want to see a great white each Episode was in a different place. I think they went to the Maldives first then they went to the Great Bear Reef in Australia Then they went to Japan then they went to South Africa then they went to Bimini in Bahamas and then they went to the Galapagos which is like the home of the theory of evolution, the home of Darwin, and the home of a plethora of sharks and an abundance of species and individuals. It was unbelievable. videography and cinematography of this show was like no other.

6:22 Okay? You saw each color. of each level of depth that they went to. You saw reefs, beautiful reefs. You saw wobblegong sharks and how camouflage they were within the crustaceous algae, like the red algae that they were actually, you they looked red and beige, like sand, but they also looked like the algae. It was really difficult to see. You kind of had to like find it just like these biologists, just like these divers, like these contestants. It was amazing. Then you have the entertainment factor. Okay, you have the host Tom the blowfish heard he's a marine biologist with a bit of a flare. He's a heavy metal enthusiast braided beard. He's got like his beard was in like different styles every time.

7:05 He's a shark week contributor, and he's the series host. He was amazing. He was so much fun to watch. He even went diving. I don't want spoil too much. But there was a point where the divers are like, well, this could be a little dangerous. There's a big current. So he went to test it out. He goes, Yeah, you know what, I actually don't like this. Let's make it safer for the divers. Let's go somewhere else. That's pretty cool, because usually in the reality shows like these type of contests, you're like, my gosh, like these people can die, but that's what makes it more interesting for the viewer. No, no, no. Tom was like, the blowfish was like, no, you know what? Let's take it back a sec. We want to find sharks. We people to make sure that they have enough time to find sharks. They can go in. Here's the premise. You're probably like, well, just take pictures. They can be in the water all the time. Unlimited air.

7:45 uh You have eight hours in each place and you have a total of four tanks of air. So if you're an air pig, you're gone. If you're in too deep, you go through like double your air, maybe four times the amount of your air. So you only have like 15 minutes at the bottom. You can't find enough sharks in 15 minutes, right? So you had to like pick which way you're gonna go. You went to different places where they saw sharks, so like the first place, the Maldives. If you take a photo of a tiger shark, which I think, it's a big shark, it's scary, it's that, it's only three points. If you saw like a white tip shark, one point. If you saw a thresher shark, which is rare in that area, 75 points. You see the difference now.

8:26 So the risk versus reward really comes into play. So it's pretty cool in the strategies that each team took. Some worked out, some didn't work out. It was really interesting where they're diving into these places where they've probably never gone diving before. Some had the experience, some didn't. And then you don't know the sites, you don't know the currents, you don't know what's down there. You don't know where to go. It's a really interesting and challenging game. It's not an easy game. Then you got to take a picture. You got to get close enough where you can actually take a picture so they can identify the shark in the picture. Pretty damn cool. From like, I geeked out. I was actually excited. Like I have to admit, I was watching it. My daughter was having friends over and they're like, Hey Andrew, what are you watching?

9:07 And I'm like. this is the best show ever. I was like telling them all, you gotta watch this, you gotta see it. was texting friends, we have kids who are into marine biology stuff and I'm like, you have to show this. You know, like all of this stuff was going on, I'm like, this is amazing. Now, to go to the team names, which is kind of cool, you had Landsharks, which was Randy Thomas and Rosie Moore. Rosie Moore is a communicator and geoscientist. Randy is a wildlife biologist. These two are from the US. You have Gills Gone Wild. Love the pun. And that's with MJ Alguera and Aliyah Banjic, who's a friend of the podcast. She was on the podcast promoting the Finstitute with her co-founder. And so she's on it. So I know her, which is even more invested in this.

9:48 So that was the team I was going for. Gills Gone Wild, MJ and Aliyah. MJ is a spearfisher and diver. And Aliyah is a science communicator, marine biologist, videographer and photographer, extraordinaire underwater, phenomenal social media. If you haven't checked it out, check out her accounts. Then you have the shark docs, which are two, you Doctors, PhD people, scientists, Brendan Talwer, who's a marine biologist, they're both marine biologists in conservation science, and Chris Malinowski. Both of them have been friends for a long time, they work well together, and they're marine biologists and conservation scientists. So, you know, they had that extra little thing. Same with all the people like Randy and Aliyah, who were able to like kind of know a little bit about sharks.

10:29 We'll talk about in a sec because she's a stingray biologist, which is a shark as well, like in the shark family. And then you got the great British bait off. Come on with the puns. I love it. This was Dan Abbott and Sarah Roberts. Dan is an underwater cameraman and Sarah is an environmental journalist. They're from the UK. Brendan and Chris, believe are from the U S J. I don't know exactly where she's from. Aliyah is from the US, but MJ is not from the US, I don't believe. I think she's from somewhere else, and I don't remember where it is. But she did have a slight accent, not your American or Canadian or British or anything like that. So I apologize, I don't remember exactly where she's from. However, they were awesome. They were the team I was going for.

11:10 And like I said, the amount of science that was going on, to be able to dive into the water and be able to know where to find these sharks. the amount of science and conservation that was going on. like, OK, so I know that we are on the edge of a reef and it's going to drop off. This is where the bigger sharks are going to be. Or, look, there's an overhang in this reef. This is where some of the Wobbegong sharks going to be in the Great Barrier Reef. Or this is where you're to see some of the hound sharks in this reef intertwined or something like that. There were all these different sign things going on. And you're like, that's kind of cool. You have to know. It adds to the challenge of if you know where these animals are going to be, then that's awesome. And then we're in the Great Barrier Reef.

11:51 Aliyah goes to an old site. It goes gone wild, goes to an old site, says, hey, you know what? I think I know this site. I've been here before. I think we can find something. Just so happens the tide was going out or going in. I don't remember. I think it was going out. Didn't find anything. Visibility was bad. So she decided at the end, both the team decided, you know what? Let's go along the coastline at night because they were going to go at night for this one. And let's just go into the sand and let's get as many stingrays as possible because they are. all the sharks. we're looking at all the sharks. Not tigers, great whites, things. We're looking at flat sharks, stingrays, guitar fish, all this stuff. They're getting snapping pictures while just walking along the shore in maybe about three or four feet of water, putting their camera under and like snap, snap, snap, snap.

12:32 So with four five points, 10 points, all these, they get like eagle rays, they get spotted rays. It is phenomenal. And the amount of points they get is ridiculous. So it ends up helping them out in the end. It's just the knowledge. believe it was Sarah Roberts from the Great British Bait Off. Come on, like the puns. Like this is so much fun. And during Bimini, she did a, I think it was like an internship or an externship in Bimini when she was younger. This is where she got bitten, but she knew where to go. She knew where to find all these like rare sharks and stuff like that. And they found like three or four rare sharks. I forget the name of the shark, but the amount of different species of sharks that you see in this episode, unbelievable.

13:13 I didn't know some of these sharks existed and I've been learning a lot of sharks being on Beyond Sharks and doing the podcast with my co-host, the lost shark guy, Dr. David Ebert. I was texting him furiously. I'm like, they hound sharks, they got hound sharks in here. And he's like, yeah, I've been there, I've seen those like this and that. It's so much fun and I highly recommend it. And the reason why I loved it so much as I thought about it, as I'm going through, not once were you ever afraid for the divers. There were some times where the divers were kind of panicked a little bit. It's like they're alone and it's just the way things happen. And they're like, my God, like I'm a little freaked out. I'm a little freaked out because they're by themselves. They're in the ocean. They know there's going to be sharks. And so they're worried of what sharks going to show up. So there was a little bit of that, but there was never really a time where you thought these divers were in trouble.

13:56 There was never a time where they freaked out and sometimes they were a little bit scared here and there. Mostly when they were by themselves. As someone who's scuba divers, not frequently, but sometimes, you don't want to lose your partner. You always want to have someone down there if you're losing air or, God forbid, anything can happen down there. You always want to have your partner. You always feel more comfortable with the partner. Those are really the times where you saw them getting a little worried and stuff. But anytime a shark comes by, they were very careful. They knew what to do and what not to do. And that was great. saw that in them and you know they're saying okay bull sharks are coming by let's stick to the pier you know so our backs are to the pier so we have like a full you know 180 around and we can see everything and you know the bull sharks didn't really bother them and you know the one time they had to just kind of poke it away to kind of guide it away but most of the time stayed out of the way they didn't go riding a shark they didn't go try and touching shark all they do is get photos these have to would come within a certain amount of meters and their title lens would get photos you know It's crazy to think.

14:57 Just imagine you can do a show about sharks and not talk about how vicious they are, not talk about how they're monsters, but to be able to reiterate that flat sharks are sharks too. Aaliyah did that almost every single episode. I loved it. The representation of the different species of sharks was phenomenal. And speaking of Aliyah, we're lining up an interview, I believe tomorrow as I'm recording this, I'm recording this on the Monday. We're going to interview Aliyah tomorrow about her experience on the show. And we're going to put it on the Beyond Jaws podcast. We thought that was fitting because of the shark sort of theme. So we're going to put on the Beyond Jaws. I'll let you know in our newsletter when it comes out.

15:39 but just watch these channels and you'll figure it out. It's awesome. The show is awesome. I love it. I give it 10 out of 10. I didn't have one problem with it. They did do chumming some ways and that, you you kind of wonder what they do, but they know what they're doing. You know, they know like it's not like a crazy chums. know what they're doing for this game show. I think it made sense with a lot of people didn't want to and you saw that and so it was kind of interesting to see that dynamic. So if you watched it, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. If you're watching this on YouTube or if you're listening to this on your favorite podcast app, just the audio, let me know. Go to at speak up for blue on Instagram, DM me or you can go to speak up for blue.com forward slash contact and then just fill out the form and it'll go right to my email.

16:19 Love to hear from you. I love to hear this. I want you to watch this. it's very important that we just flood netflix whatever country you're from if you get netflix flooded it's worth the free trial just to flood netflix and to watch this because this is how you do a show that's educational entertaining and good for conservation and good for the reputation of sharks shows off some great biology great conservation and just enthusiastic people with some great puns i just i just love it so if you are into this kind of stuff watch it flood Netflix for it, tell them how much you love it, there's a way you can review it, you know, show it, like we have to show that this is great. We want Netflix to be able to produce and show more of these produced shows.

17:04 Apparently there's rumor that they are shooting another season. Let's just keep it going. Let's just keep doing it. I think it's wonderful. I'd love to see the love to be put out there. So watch that, not Shark Whisperer. Watch this all the sharks you want to see one shark you see all the sharks and it's awesome. Anyway, that's it for today's episode. Love to hear what you think at how to protect the ocean on Instagram. If you want to hit me up speak up for blue dot com for slash contact and don't forget to join the undertow speak up for blue dot com for slash join the undertow. I want to thank you so much for not only watching these shows and watching the podcast and my reviews. I want to thank you so much for joining the community getting involved commenting. Let's build this community.

17:44 Let's have some fun. with it. This has been another wonderful episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Luan from the true North strong and free. Have a great day. We'll talk to you next time and happy conservation.