Name: Shark Docs
Address: 9411 Southwest 6th Court, Pembroke Pines, FL, 33025-1160, US

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Behind the scenes filming Netflix's All the Sharks

🎬 Shark Docs from Netflix's All the Sharks: Dr. Brendan Talwar & Dr. Chris Malinowski 🦈 Science behind every shark encounter 🌍 Conservation context worldwide

🔗 Podcast, merchandise, and more

🐠 Thank you @heronisland and @heron_island_research_station for sharing your sharks, rays, reefs, whales(!), and wonderful people with us.

We're grateful to Dr. Heather Middleton @heffalicious.1 for joining us on our companion podcast to #AlltheSharks - Beyond All the Sharks - to dive into epaulette shark research, elasmobranch mating, reef conservation in the face of climate change, and much more.

Until next time! 💙

#shark #ScubaLife #netflix #diveaustralia #heronisland #science

🌊 Standing on a sand flat off Heron Island, we watched a stingray carve out a resting / feeding pit. Through bioturbation, these rays are ecosystem engineers, reshaping the seabed, stirring up nutrients, and supporting reef life.

Because they're so well camouflaged under the sand, the #stingrayshuffle was born to protect people from accidentally stepping on rays and feeling a venomous spine.

For more, see Flowers et al., 2021 👉 10.1111/faf.12508

⚠️ Viewer discretion advised in service of dry shorts

#AllTheSharks #Netflix #Sharks #Rays #EcosystemEngineers #ScubaLife #HeronIsland #MarineEducation #OceanConservation #KidsInScience #MarineLife #WildlifeTourism

🌡 Sharks and rays are facing challenges from climate change, such as ocean acidification, warming waters, and shifting oxygen levels.

At Heron Island, scientists use the resident Epaulette Shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum; IUCN Least Concern) as a model to study how these changes affect #shark physiology & behavior.

📚 Literature & Resources:

Climate change & sharks: Rummer et al., 2022

Shark & ray migrations: Bangley et al., 2018; Osgood et al., 2021; Hammerschlag et al., 2022; Matich et al., 2023; Lezama-Ochoa et al., 2024

Physiology & behavior: Rosa et al., 2017; Crear et al., 2020; Waller et al., 2024

Epaulette Sharks & climate: Heinrich et al., 2014; Wheeler et al., 2021; Wheeler et al., 2022; Thomas et al., 2023

Thermal strategy: Nay et al., 2020

Epaulette Population at Heron: Heupel & Bennett, 2007

Great Barrier Reef & bleaching: Henley et al., 2024; Australian Institute of Marine Science

📷 @saveourseasfoundation @wheel_house23 @bigfishexpeditions

#SharkScience #EpauletteShark #HeronIsland #GreatBarrierReef #ClimateChange #Sharks #Rays #MarineConservation #SharkResearch #OceanScience #WildlifeResearch #Netflix #Allthesharks #netflixandchill

Sometimes freshwater
BYO sharks
#stingrayshuffle coming soon
#bachelorparty but wholesome

Male sharks and rays can detect and likely use pheromones to locate females before mating!

While this had long been hypothesized, Dr. Heather Middleton at @heron_island_research_station confirmed it through behavioral experiments with Epaulette Sharks at Heron Island—revealing a previously unknown aspect of shark courtship.

🎧 Full episode of Beyond All the Sharks on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts — link in bio.

📍 With support from @scripps_ocean, @reef_org, and @oceanfirstinstitute.

📷 Photos and video by @bigfishexpeditions, @oceanx, @ceibahamas, @owt.sharks

📚 Relevant Literature & Resources:

Tricas, 1980 → Ray mating behaviors: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1444540

McCallister et al., 2020 → Ray mating behaviors: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10641-019-00943-x

Middleton, 2022 → Epaulette Shark pheromones: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:2636a55

Johnson & Nelson, 1978 → Shark mating & olfaction: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1443626?casa_token=xsCwaGL1gF8AAAAA:oVmz24JO3Mo4Kp2MsrUv_1ICwyuUa54v1TFiubsondWsxCjSDa6zbNau-bT431zyPvPTUK7aMM1PxmfMkRm4ha2ofVneO5XbV0bidyhgLMWBvS5BWcw

Talwar et al., 2023 → Shark mating & olfaction: https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v50/esr01231

#SharkScience #MarineConservation #ScubaDiving #GreatBarrierReef #UniversityOfQueensland #Elasmobranchs #EpauletteShark #OceanConservation #UnderwaterPhotography #HeronIsland #AlltheSharks #Netflix #Divethereef #OceanExploration

According to the IUCN Red List, 36% of rays and 31% of sharks are threatened with extinction, with overfishing as the biggest driver. Rays are caught for food, bait, soup, and even “tonics” that offer no medicinal value.

At Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, we saw rays everywhere, a hopeful sign in a place that acts as a refuge for species facing intense pressure elsewhere.

Among our favorites:
🌀 Porcupine Ray (Endangered)
🎸 Giant Guitarfish (Critically Endangered)
🔱 Bottlenose Wedgefish (Critically Endangered)
🌊 Broad Cowtail Ray (Vulnerable)

Protected areas like this serve as lifeboats for species that desperately need safe waters.

📷 Photos by @bigfishexpeditions | @iucnshark | @heffalicious.1

📚 Relevant Literature & Resources:

Dulvy et al., 2021 → https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)01198-2

O'Malley et al., 2017 → https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aqc.2670

Kyne et al., 2020 → https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3331

Sherman et al., 2023 → https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105753

Yan et al., 2021 → https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.abb6026

#ocean #diving #marineconservation #reefconservation #sharkdiving #sharkconservation #allthesharks #netflix

🧔 Did you like the beard on @bigpoppablowfish of All the Sharks? Then you'll love the tassels on this little guy.

On our very last dive at Heron Island, we finally found the shark-in-residence: the Tasseled Wobbegong. Camouflaged, weird, and absolutely wonderful — this ambush predator blends perfectly into the reef with its leafy lobes and fringe-covered face.

🦈 We featured this cryptic shark in a recent species spotlight post — scroll back to learn why it’s one of the reef’s most unique predators.

🎧 And for more Heron Island shark stories, don’t miss our podcast episode with Dr. Heather Middleton from the @heron_island_research_station — link in bio!

#Sharks #SharkDiving #ScubaDiving #UnderwaterWorld #MarineBiology #OceanExploration #WildlifeWednesday #NatureLovers #GreatBarrierReef #AustraliaTravel #HeronIsland #TropicalEscape #DiveTheReef #BeyondAllTheSharks #OceanLife #AnimalPlanet #AlltheSharks #Netflix

🌊 Beneath the turquoise waters of Heron Island lies a vital sanctuary for sharks and rays.

🦈 Critically Endangered Giant Guitarfish use these shallow habitats as nursery grounds, while Whitetip Reef Sharks and Whitespotted Eagle Rays mate here. Some, like the resilient and resident Epaulette Shark, spend their entire lives in the reef's crevices.

🛡 Protection matters — inside Heron’s protected green zone, these animals move calmly and confidently. Outside, in unprotected waters, their behavior is more erratic, a sign of how human pressures can shape life beneath the waves.

🏝 Places like Heron Island aren’t just beautiful — they’re essential to the survival of species that have been here for millenia. Protecting them means protecting the future of our oceans.

🎧 Full episode with Dr. Heather Middleton of the @heron_island_research_station on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts — link in bio.

📍 With support from @scripps_ocean, @reef_org, and @oceanfirstinstitute

📷 Thanks to @bigfishexpeditions and @wheel_house23 for the photos and videos!

#SharkConservation #RayConservation #MarineProtectedArea #OceanScience #SharkResearch #RayResearch #GreatBarrierReef #DiveAustralia #SharkDiving #AlltheSharks #Netflix #WildlifePhotography #OceanWildlife #SaveOurSeas #EndangeredSpecies #BluePlanet

Looking back, thinking ahead.

After All the Sharks aired, we each had the chance to reflect on the journey — from research to filming — in interviews with our home institutions. 🎙️

🦈 Brendan spoke with @ucsandiego and @scripps_ocean, featured by UC News:
“Photographing ‘All the Sharks’ leads to victory” (Aug 7, 2025)

🦈 Chris was interviewed by @fauresearch:
“Big ‘Fin’ish for Alumnus Chris Malinowski” (Jul 23, 2025)

Check out both interviews and more via Linktree in our bio! 🔗

📷 Erik Jepsen - UCSD, & Netflix

#AllTheSharks #Netflix #SharkScience #MarineBiology #OceanConservation #SharkConservation #SaveTheSharks #SharksOfInstagram #ScrippsOceanography #UCSD #FAUResearch #BehindTheScenes

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