In 1978 filmmaker Hardy Jones was swept into the universe of dolphins. In his work as a filmmaker he came to know many of these magnificent animals as individuals. “I know when I’m with them that I’m relating to creatures as intelligent, social, and imbued with emotion as I am.” Hardy’s life became even more closely entwined with dolphins when he learned that he and the dolphins share a genetic trait that imperils both his life and the survival of dolphins worldwide. Starting with the film that came from his first life-changing encounter with spotted dolphins in the Bahamas, he’s made over 70 documentaries for PBS, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and foreign broadcasters. “Filming became my entrée into the world of dolphins but not my ultimate purpose there. My true aim was to get inside the minds of these enormously intelligent and friendly animals.” In coming years Hardy would apply what he had learned to killer whales in the Arctic fjords of Norway, and sperm whales off the Galapagos and the Caribbean Island of Dominica. “I became a pioneer in a parallel universe inhabited by highly intelligent, friendly, curious aliens. I came to love them and felt an intense need to protect them.” For more than three decades Hardy has fought to end the slaughter of dolphins by Japanese fishermen and was instrumental in converting a dolphin hunter to a dolphin watch tour leader. In the late 1980s Hardy became aware of a threat to dolphins even more insidious that the blades of dolphin hunters – rising levels of chemical toxins in the oceans that were impacting marine life and human beings. Over succeeding decades these contaminants have reached crisis level. In 2003 Hardy was diagnosed with an incurable form of blood cancer that is linked to chemical toxins. “I’ve struggled with the side effects of medications, but my first lab tests after beginning treatment brought stunning results. My burden of monoclonal cells had been reduced by ninety-eight percent.” The diagnosis spurred Hardy to seek the sources of the pollutants in his own body and to document their impact on marine life and human beings. Hardy continues treatment and maintains an active life traveling the world to campaign for dolphins, the oceans and the welfare of humanity.
From the first moment I saw a dolphin I was enthralled. Unfortunately it was at the Miami SeaQuarium, a facility for captive dolphins. During the 1970s I spent time with Dr. John Lilly, a man who understood the potential for human-dolphin interaction. Being utterly naive, I set out to find free dolphins in the open sea and thanks to a tip from a treasure hunter, I found them in a remote area of the Bahamas. That started a more than 30-year relationship with the spotted dolphins of the western Bahamas. The story is chronicled in The Voice of the Dolphins, my new book.
But learning about the wonders of dolphins led me to understand the horrors they face at the hand of mankind. I have worked in Japan since 1979 to stop the slaughter of dolphins there. My films have appeared on National Geographic and PBS and we have had substantial success stopping these slaughters. But Taiji continues to kill dolphins and there is a huge kill of Dall's Porpoise in northern Japan.
During the spring of 2012 I documented a massive die-off of dolphins in Peru and discovered widespread hunting of dolphins by Peruvian fishermen. We are currently working to test dolphin-eating consumers for mercury levels in hopes of ending the dolphin hunt by proving that eating dolphin meat is not healthful.
The other area in which I work more and more is researching and exploring the contamination in the marine food chain and is threatening both dolphins and now humans.
In my early years as a journalist I worked for CBS News, United Pres International and was news director and anchor at the CBS affiliate in Anchorage, AK. I graduated from Choate School, then Tulane University and did a year at Columbia School of Law.
I live in Saint Augustine, FL with my wife Deborah and our Chow Chou Chou, and cats Gracie and Buddy.
