Furman grad searches for ‘All the Sharks’ on Netflix show

A Furman University graduate is giving sharks the love they deserve on a new Netflix reality competition show, “All the Sharks,” which began streaming July 4.

Brendan Talwar ’11, originally from Louisville, Kentucky, is partnered up with fellow marine biologist Chris Malinowski as one of the teams competing to raise money for charities by identifying and photographing as many sharks as possible on “All the Sharks.” Talwar, who studied biology at Furman before getting his master’s in biology from Florida State University and Ph.D. from Florida International University, is a postdoctoral scholar at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Marine biologist Chris Malinowski photographs a tiger shark on Episode 1 of the Netflix competition show “All the Sharks,” which features Furman graduate Brendan Talwar ’11 in the cast. Photo courtesy of Netflix.

“When you’ve worked in shark research and conservation enough, you get involved in all kinds of television programs,” Talwar said. “Very often, what we experience in the field with a film crew isn’t what we end up seeing in the ultimate production – but that’s what ‘All the Sharks’ is about – getting past the manufactured drama straight to genuine experiences and encounters with some of the most threatened animals on Earth.”

Talwar and Malinowski are one of the show’s four teams tasked with diving the planet’s shark-richest waters in search of these complex creatures. Their boats sailed the turquoise waters of the Maldives, the teeming ocean metropolis of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the mix of warm and cool waters in Japan, the world’s premiere shark sanctuary in Bimini, the Bahamas and the deep waters Charles Darwin sailed around the Galapagos Islands.

“When you get a chance to go to places like these and have a boat for three days, in a marine biologists’ paradise, that’s a playground for us,” Talwar said.

Searching for sharks isn’t the tense, Jaws-inspired horror scene that the silver screen often depicts, Talwar said. For marine biologists, it’s as routine as any job. When working up sharks and rays to collect data, Talwar said he often feels like part of a pit crew changing a car’s tires in a race, emphasizing efficiency and safety.

“We’ve dedicated our entire careers to the study of these animals, it’s not a scary thing,” he said. “The ocean is a really magical place with so much to appreciate and be excited about, and we hope people will see that, especially young people.”

Brendan Talwar ’11 found his love for marine biology at Furman University, and now dives with Chris Malinowski in the Netflix show “All the Sharks.” Photo courtesy of Netflix.

That’s a discipline and joy Talwar first found at Furman. He was able to have life-changing experiences during study-away trips with his professors and mentors to Belize, as well as a wilderness program called Wild Semester in New Mexico. With support from a donor, Talwar also traveled to the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences between his sophomore and junior years to study coral reef ecology in an environment where shark populations had seen steep decline.

“That was the beginning of this rabbit hole,” Talwar said of his study-away experiences. “Those trips speak to Furman’s engaged learning commitment to getting out in the world and actually seeing and experiencing things firsthand.”

That’s the goal, said Erik Ching, interim associate provost for Engaged Learning and director of Undergraduate Research. These trips are designed to help a student “discern their vocational calling and their career pathway,” Ching said.

“We at Furman are incredibly happy for Brendan to be having this level of post-graduate success with the highly visible ‘All the Sharks’ show on Netflix. We know that he will use the opportunity to make a difference for the better,” Ching said.