We’re Brendan and Chris — the Shark Docs from Netflix’s All the Sharks. Brendan grew up in Kentucky and eventually Pensacola Beach, kayaking offshore with sharks on his mind, while Chris grew up in Wisconsin, where a love of water began in lakes and ponds before the ocean ever felt within reach.
We became close friends in graduate school at Florida State University, and over time realized we were circling the same mission: sustainable fisheries, threatened species conservation, and healthier oceans.
Our mission is to reduce extinction risk for marine megafauna through science, education, storytelling, and entrepreneurship. We believe real scientists can be real storytellers, and that helping people understand sharks and rays is an important part of protecting them. This account is where we share the research, wildlife, behind-the-scenes moments, and stories that fuel that work, all grounded in one belief: smallness is not insignificance.
#AllTheSharks #Netflix #SharkConservation #OceanEducation #dive
📷 When the opportunity came to join Netflix's "All the Sharks" as team "Shark Docs," we were honestly hesitant. So many shows promise conservation messaging but deliver fear-based sensationalism instead. But this eight-week whirlwind across the planet – from vibrant Caribbean seagrass meadows to hammerhead hotspots in the northwest Pacific – stayed true to its mission.
🎥 The goal? Make encounters with sharks and rays fun and positive – an underwater scavenger hunt mixing the Amazing Race with Survivor and Blue Planet.
📖 Storytelling brings the ocean to people wherever they are, showing them the beauty and wonder of the incredible animals that live there. This show gave us the opportunity to do just that on a global scale.
🎆 All the Sharks lives on Netflix. Enjoy with the whole family! 🌊
Follow @shark_docs and @SharkDocs on YouTube for educational content paired with each episode.
#AllTheSharks #Netflix #sharkWeek #ScubaDiving #UnderwaterPhotography
Happy, happy Earth Week. 🌎
Pulling from years of shark research, a Netflix show I resisted for months, and moments when the smallest of my decisions carried immense weight, I recently distilled my marine conservation ethic into a talk at TEDxTorreyPines. I'm honored it was chosen as a TedX Editor's Pick.
Sharks, Reality TV, and the Myth of Insignificance begins with a single shark and ends with the belief that our world is more connected, and our choices more consequential, than they first appear - for us, for wildlife, and even for sharks on the other side of the world.
I’m grateful to @TEDxTorreyPines and all the volunteers, coaches, speakers, and organizers who put this event together. Thank you!
The full talk is now live (link in bio). If it resonates with you, please let us know!
#mythofinsignificance
Photos: @laurakmoorephotography
#tedx #conservation #sharkweek #earthday
Latest publication from Chris and colleagues now available open access in Fish and Fisheries! Find it in the latest issue :)
Congrats to Brandon Sosa on his first first-author publication! & in a leading journal in our field no less!
📸 thanks Cass for many of the photos! @covascott
#science #OceanConservation #marinescience #WildlifeConservation #healthyseafood
One spot remains on our June 15-20 field experience!
**Please share with folks who might be interested 💙
Thanks for all of your support! We're really excited to explore south Florida's marine ecosystems with you and collect meaningful data along the way.
Reserve your spot ASAP at to participate.
#sharkconservation #floridasummer #research #experientiallearning #marinebiology
Earth Day Victory 😎
Chris joined Ocean Conservancy on Capitol Hill during Earth Week to meet with Florida members of Congress to discuss the vital work of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the importance of the Endangered Species Act, and why the proposed Endangered Species Amendment Act would pose danger to Florida's most iconic and at-risk marine ecoaystems and animals, like the Smalltooth Sawfish.
The bill was scheduled for a vote on the afternoon of Earth Day, but was pulled from the House floor at the last minute. 🎉
Some of the best science starts with the hardest questions — including the ones we ask ourselves. 🦈
In his new TEDxTorrey Pines talk, shark researcher Brendan Talwar (@shark_docs ) shares the hardest lesson he's learned in his career — an honest reflection on the choices that shape a life spent in service of the sea.
You may know Brendan and the @shark_docs team as champions of Netflix's All the Sharks — who donated their $25,000 prize to @reef_org
Watch the full talk on YouTube: TedX Talks or check our story for the link!
Hopefully these infographics have explained in greater detail the key points from our recent TedX talk! This deep dive was inspired by an amazing orca encounter at Darwin's Arch in the Galapagos during filming for #allthesharks on @netflix
------"Mothers unknowingly offload poison into the mouths of their eager young." ‐------
Orca milk is among the fattiest of any mammal, and that's exactly what makes it a vehicle for some of the most dangerous pollutants on Earth.
PCBs, mercury, and DDT don't just disappear when we ban or regulate them. They persist in the environment, bioaccumulate and then biomagnify up food chains, and concentrate in the tissues of apex predators like orcas and sharks. When a mother nurses her calf, she transfers lipophilic contaminants directly to her calf through her milk.
The result? Over half the world's orca populations face severe decline from PCBs alone (Desforges et al., 2018).
These pollutants trace back to our everyday choices. The energy we use, the products we buy, the materials in our homes.
📸 infographics developed using Gemini and a whole lot of editing
#MarineConservation #orca #conservation #tedx
TLDR:
--This Earth Week, it is important to remember that consumer pressure, alongside verification programs and trade regulations, can achieve conservation wins. Buy plant-based supplements and cosmetics if you don't want sharks on your skin.--
Deep-sea sharks are targeted and retained for their liver oil, from which folks extract a compound called squalene widely used in cosmetics and supplements and as an adjuvant component in some vaccines.
Gulper sharks (Centrophoridae) are among the most sought-after, with populations declining by over 80% in some regions. Among deepwater sharks in the liver-oil trade, around half are threatened with extinction (Finucci et al. 2024).
The good news: plant-based squalene from olives and sugarcane is functionally identical. And over 100 cosmetic brands have committed to shark-free sourcing. Further, in 2025, 86% of CITES Parties voted to list gulper sharks on Appendix II, regulating their international trade for the first time.
However, many "shark-free" commitments rely on supplier self-reporting, not independent testing. A 2015 Bloom study found a substantial fraction of tested moisturizers contained shark squalene, including from brands that believed their supply was plant-based.
📷 Gulper shark images by @bigfishexpeditions
📸 infographics developed using Gemini and a whole lot of editing
📖 Finucci, et al. (2024).
#mythofinsignificance
#SharksInternational2026 #tedx #SI2026 #earthweek
Let's get some things straight...
Over 80 million sharks are still killed every year, and that number is rising.
Finning bans were meant to help. Instead, they likely opened new markets for shark meat without reducing total mortality. What actually works? Evidence points towards fishing bans and strong governance.
Some international measures provide important case studies on how international cooperation, after years of work, can also provide some relief. At CITES COP20, 184+ countries voted to protect over 70 shark and ray species — including the first-ever full trade ban for a shark (oceanic whitetip), additional Appendix I uplistings for whale sharks, manta rays, and devil rays, and an Appendix II listing for gulper sharks, which are threatened by the trade in liver oil. CITES isn't going to solve the problem of shark mortality entirely, but it can move the needle on international shark and ray trade, and that is worth celebrating.
Research informs advocacy, which drives policy, which allows recovery, but each step of the way can feel like a tiny, insignificant contribution. But taken together, these steps can make a world of difference. It is important to remember that now and again, especially around #earthweek.
#mythofinsignificance
📖 key sources:
Worm, et al. (2024).
CITES CoP20 outcomes, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, November 2025.
📷 graphics made with Gemini and a whole lotta editing and mask inspired by Phoebe Shaw years ago at @theislandschool
#SharksInternational2026 #CITES #sharkweek
Let's get some things straight...
Sharks and their relatives are far more diverse than most people realize. They also face many threats, but the biggest by far is overfishing. Because many species have slow life histories, their populations often cannot withstand high fishing mortality. As a result, many are assessed as Threatened — including Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable — on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
If we want a future with healthy oceans and abundant wildlife, we need stronger fisheries management, reduced bycatch, habitat protections, and far more attention given to species that have been overlooked.
📸 Global Status infographic modified from materials by the IUCN Shark Specialist Group and Save Our Seas Foundation based on the results of the Global Status report. Created w/ Gemini (& a whole lotta editing)
📚 Sources:
Dulvy et al. 2021. Overfishing drives over one-third of all sharks and rays toward a global extinction crisis.
Jabado et al. 2024. The global status of sharks, rays, and chimaeras.
#sharks #MarineConservation #sharksinternational2026 #si2026 #earthweek
🎓 How do you do research that actually helps sharks?
Dr. Shelley Clarke has worked inside fisheries systems for decades — on longline vessels as an observer, at RFMO negotiating tables, and everywhere in between. Her advice to grad students who want to make a difference: focus on fisheries.
🎧 Hear the full conversation in our newest episode of Beyond All the Sharks with Dr. Shelley Clarke — now streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Link in bio.
📍 Japan
📚 Further Reading:
Worm et al., 2024 – Global shark fishing mortality still rising despite regulatory change (Science)
Dulvy et al., 2026 – Bending back the curve of shark and ray biodiversity loss (Nature Reviews Biodiversity)
🌐 Dr. Shelley Clarke –
#AllTheSharks #netflix #sharkresearch #fisheries #marinescience
