BlueVoice Executive Director Hardy Jones
Hardy Jones is a former journalist with CBS News and UPI. He has been making television documentaries about the oceans and marine mammals in particular for more than 20 years. "The experience of forcing Japanese fishermen to release hundreds of dolphins simply by pointing a camera at them led to the original concept of BlueVoice.org," says Jones. "The advent of the internet has given us a tool of unprecedented power to end some of the brutalities committed against marine mammals and the oceans."
Our film "If Dolphins Could Talk," hosted by actor Michael Douglas, complimented the work of many environmental organizations when we broadcast video footage of dolphins dying in tuna nets. Soon afterwards Heinz announced it would no longer accept tuna caught by surrounding dolphins with nets.
BlueVoice.org draws on the hundreds of hours of film produced by Hardy Jones/Julia Whitty Productions, a leading production company specializing in films onthe marine environment.
Ted Danson helps launch bluevoice.org
In an effort to leverage the power of the Internet in the cause of preserving and restoring the oceans and its creatures, film and television star Ted Danson, a highly respected ocean activist, has joined film producers, environmentalists and digital technology partners to launch BlueVoice.org.
Material includes streaming video, audio, text, images and animated content. We feature annotated video especially prepared for journalists and political leaders and provide ways for concerned citizens to communicate with their government representatives and to contribute to the preservation of the oceans.
The BlueVoice philosophy
For some twenty five years members of the BlueVoice team have worked both to end the killing of dolphins and whales and to explore the universe of dolphins in the open sea. We oppose keeping dolphins in captivity as we would oppose capturing human beings for display in circus-like shows. Ample evidence now exists to show that dolphins are highly intelligent, social and sentient animals with brains and minds of equal magnitude to those of humans.
Our films have brought this point of view to millions of viewers around the world. We have spent hundreds of days at sea with dolphins, killer whales and sperm whales. We have experienced dolphins protecting us from sharks, met newborn calves and swum eye-to-eye with these magnificent animals from the Bahamas to Norway's fjords to the Galapagos Islands. For all of us the work to protect dolphins and whales is very personal. We are dedicated to informing the world about the marvel of these animals and ending the threats to their lives.
At a time in history when we are constructing the world's most sophisticated communications infrastructure on the internet we are dangerously neglecting the "infrastructure" which supports life on our planet. This is particularly true in the marine environment. Life in the oceans is in serious jeopardy and none of it is "backed up." If it is destroyed it will not be recoverable.