Shark Diving and Science Writing Spark Love of Storytelling

Published November 12, 2025 | Request Information

Blake Martinez is definitely not in Kansas anymore.

In fact, the 2024 Johns Hopkins graduate of the MA in Science Writing program and her husband, an Air Force intelligence officer, are living a life that she could have only dreamed of as a child growing up in Wichita.

Martinez credits her husband’s military assignment in Oahu, Hawaii with launching an adrenaline-charged, life-changing adventure of her own.

“The ocean came to me, and I am forever grateful,” said Martinez, who first fell in love with the water as an eight-year-old – specifically Egypt’s Red Sea – which she visited when her mother was teaching English in the country. “Hawaii is where I realized I could make a living in the water.”

Martinez has been working in the water in conservation and ecotourism since arriving in Oahu in 2014, plunging into the ocean alongside some of nature’s most misunderstood creatures. After starting on a dolphin-watching boat, she progressed into certifications for safety diving for snorkeling before becoming a scuba-dive master and a free-diving instructor. It was there that she first encountered sharks – mostly tiger sharks, but also Galapagos sharks and sometimes hammerhead sharks.

“I have bad anxiety, which is not really a good thing to have when you are hanging out with apex predators,” she admitted. “But I will say that there is something about swimming with sharks that forces you out of your head and into the moment. Because if you are not focused on what is happening in the exact moment, your mind can start to spiral, and that’s when things can get dangerous. Being forced to be present, to read the body language of the shark, to determine your own safety and the safety of the divers on your tour, helped me gain confidence and helped me immensely in my own personal journey with anxiety. You need to know your limits and to be responsible for your own safety. If you freak out and splash around, there is only so much I can do to protect you from a 1,500-pound fish with giant teeth. But I am happy to say that I have never been bitten by a shark nor has anyone on my tours. I have all my fingers and toes.”

It was Martinez’s growing love of sharks – and her desire to connect people to science, nature, and the unknown – that led to her enrollment at Johns Hopkins. And her JHU degree brought her to the pinnacle of shark exploration when she was recruited to film for a July 2025 episode of the Discovery Channel’s wildly popular “Shark Week” series. In particular, she was featured in the episode “How to Survive a Shark Attack” that aired on July 22, 2025.

“The reason I ended up enrolling in the Johns Hopkins science writing program was because I wanted to find ways to do more science communication for people who might not be able to fly to Hawaii and go swimming with sharks,” said Martinez, who along with her friend Chelsea Sturdevant, previously launched a website and podcast as learning platforms on ocean science, conservation, myths, and legends. “I wanted to inspire people, especially children, to have a love for an animal that most people consider unlovable. I also wanted to help people develop a respect for the ocean and to understand the importance of protecting its ecosystem. And then it was definitely because of my degree that the producers of Shark Week reached out to me.”

Filming at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas, Martinez worked alongside Paul de Gelder, a former Australian navy diver who, in 2009, was attacked by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor, losing his hand and his leg. The episode had de Gelder and Martinez performing dangerous stunt work – among tiger, bull, lemon, and Caribbean sharks -to simulate how to survive a shark attack if encountered in four different scenarios – on a kayak, in open water after a boat explosion, while swimming on the beach, and while scuba diving.

“The JHU program changed my life in the best of ways,” said Martinez who relocated to Doral, Fl., in August 2025 when her husband was stationed at the U.S. Southern Command. “I had the experience of being a diver for 13 years, but I didn’t have the education for other people to see me in a science light. Being able to able to pair my hands-on experience with a degree that validated this experience on paper was incredibly helpful. I loved every single second of Kim O’Connell’s classes. Program director Melissa Hendricks gave me incredible guidance, helped me adjust the science writing to what I was passionate about, and encouraged me to take a creative writing class. The two-week residency that the program offers was also a huge draw. We went to Missoula, Mt., where I was able to ‘nerd out’ about animals and animal behavior in a way that I do – because it is not for everybody. I loved having that blended environment and making those connections with my classmates and professors.”

It was in Montana where Martinez conceived her forth-coming project, the first book in a trilogy entitled Guardians of the Deep, storytelling that blends marine biology and fantasy in works geared toward an audience of 10 to 14-year-olds.

“The underwater world has just started accepting humans because they need their help in becoming guardians of certain marine species. Imagine mermaids and sea creatures instead of wizards and owls,” she said in summarizing the premise of her book that launches on November 9, 2025. “I would love to develop this trilogy so that the fantasy portion of the story spurs actual, concrete marine conservation efforts among readers. And ultimately, I would love to develop guided trips and bring people on the underwater adventures that they are reading about in my books.

“My pursuit of my science writing degree was so fulfilling because, even if I never find my way as a science writer, I now know how to communicate the things that are really important to me,” said Martinez, who hopes to one day return to Hawaii. “I learned to write about what I love and that this passion can lead to so many incredible adventures. And I learned that people change the world by telling their stories.”