Hardy Jones

Hardy Jones has been a pioneer in filming dolphins, killer whales and sperm whales underwater in the wild. He began the struggle to end the slaughter of dolphins in Japan in 1979.

Jones graduated from New Canaan Country School, Choate School and Tulane University. He was awarded a CBS News Foundation Fellowship to Columbia University where he studied international law. At CBS News, Jones worked as a researcher, writer and in the election and space units. He went on to become news director and on-air anchor at the CBS affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska.

Prior to working at CBS Jones served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru. In 2003 Hardy Jones was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer connected to chemical pollutants. He has fought to alert the public and governments to the danger of toxins in the marine food chain and their linkage to disease in dolphins and human beings.

He has won numerous awards for his films, including Lifetime Achievement Award from International Wildlife Film Festival, A Genesis Award from the Humane Society of the United States, Wildlife Filmmaker of the Year from Wildscreen and an Explorer’s Club Award as well as many others.

Currently Jones is executive director of BlueVoice.org. He is on the Ocean Council of Oceana. He and his wife Deborah Cutting live on Anastasia Island just off Saint Augustine, Florida. They share their lives with a Chow named Chou Chou, and two cats, Buddy and Gracie. From a nearby beach they frequently see dolphins and, during the winter, right whales.