Brendan Talwar, a postdoctoral scholar at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, and his teammate Chris Malinowski from the Ocean First Institute, have won the Netflix competition series “All the Sharks.” The show featured four teams competing in marine fieldwork over two months, photographing sharks in locations such as the Maldives, Galápagos Islands, The Bahamas, South Africa, Japan, and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Teams earned points for photographing rare shark species.
Talwar and Malinowski’s team, known as “Shark Docs,” secured first place and received $50,000 for their chosen nonprofit organizations: Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) and Ocean First Institute. They also received a shark-shaped trophy.
Talwar explained how he and Malinowski were initially hesitant to join the show. “Chris and I received an email that read: ‘We are producing a global series that will feature the most biodiverse exploration of sharks that has ever been done.’ How could we say no? But, of course, we nearly did. It seemed too good to be true, and our scientific minds poked countless holes in the idea of participating. Would it help or harm our careers? Would it be worth the time we could spend publishing papers?” Talwar said.
He added that advice from his advisor helped them decide to participate: “As my Scripps advisor, Brice Semmens, explained: Worst case—you don’t like the show but get to dive together in some of the last remaining near-pristine marine ecosystems the world can offer. Best case—the show plays a part in inspiring the next generation of marine biologists… So, we decided that the goal of the show was worth the risk…”
Filming took place under constant observation by camera crews. Talwar described adjusting to being on camera: “I’ve always preferred being behind the camera—taking the group photo… Upon landing in the Maldives… At any given moment, we were filmed from three directions… But we got to know the crew behind the camera on such a personal level that… we barely felt like we were being filmed at all.”
One memorable moment occurred during their search for whale sharks at Darwin’s Arch in Galápagos. After several dives without success they encountered killer whales instead. Talwar recounted: “Sharing space with killer whales had been at the top of my bucket list since I saw the film ‘Free Willy’ as a kid… In that moment, the whole premise of the show—the desire to connect people to…the ocean — hit home.”
Across six filming locations and among four teams they photographed more than 50 shark and ray species. Talwar noted there are over 500 species of shark worldwide.
His favorite sighting was a leopard catshark off South Africa’s coast: “They’re truly some of the most beautiful fish in sea…” He also described capturing an image of a great hammerhead off Bimini while facing elimination: “With her hammer — or cephalaphoil — parallel to my lens, I snapped a straight shot of her face…a single frame capturing beauty and resilience of a critically endangered species finding refuge in a shark sanctuary…”
Winning allowed their research message about ecology and conservation to reach more viewers through each episode. According to Talwar: “Our message…made final cut because we were featured in every episode…defining endemism in Japan…highlighting our use of shark tracking data…”
Talwar said REEF was selected as one charity recipient because its mission aligns with their values by involving citizen scientists in monitoring reef fishes worldwide through volunteer surveys—a dataset used both on “All The Sharks” for planning dives and currently at Scripps’ Semmens Lab for analyzing population trends across Caribbean regions.
Looking ahead Talwar remains at Scripps until September next year when his current funding ends but hopes future opportunities will allow him to continue work there despite recent cuts affecting regional shark research efforts.
He emphasized ongoing threats from overfishing now shifting closer to coastal zones making local habitat protection increasingly important. He envisions further collaborative research drawing on expertise across disciplines—ecology oceanography policy—to support responsible fisheries management internationally.
“If we want people to care about ocean,” he said,“we have to tell stories that help them feel part of it.”
