Jacques Mayol Tribute: http://www.thejacquesmayol.com/JacquesMayol.htm
Jacques Mayol from his book Homo Delphinus
In the mid-seventies, I just happened to witness on television a short piece about this man that had just set the record of the first person to descend to 330 feet on one breath. He was a Frenchman named Jacques Mayol. The most prominent thing about him that I remember from that first introduction was the light he carried. There was something about him that totally captivated me. I remember in the interview when asked how he developed his capacity to dive that deep without assistance, he said it was due to a combination of swimming with dolphins in the ocean, of yoga pranayama (breath control) and meditating. From that day forward, I vowed I wanted to meet him. I almost succeeded but he died at age 74 shortly before I had tracked him down.
Jacques was equal parts mystic and scientist and athlete. He fell in love with dolphins and committed a large portion of his life to exploring the aquatic potential within man. The movie, “The Big Blue”, which came out in 1988, was based on his life story and became a cult favorite in Europe with only a modest following in the United States. It includes some of what he did scientifically in his deep questing of what is it that humans and dolphins have in common that is more latent in humans at this point in our evolution. Those questions haunt me and I am so grateful for the trail blazing he did.
I highly recommend investing in Jacques Mayol’s Opus Magnum entitled Homo Delphinus: The Dolphin Within Man. It is a very detailed and beautifully documented account of the life of one very special soul. I always think of Jacques when I am swimming with my local pod here knowing that the joy I feel is a replica of what he felt and sometimes, I sense Jacques not so far away after all. Maybe that is even why these wild dolphins here seem to accept my presence . . . they like the company I keep.
Jacques was equal parts mystic and scientist and athlete. He fell in love with dolphins and committed a large portion of his life to exploring the aquatic potential within man. The movie, “The Big Blue”, which came out in 1988, was based on his life story and became a cult favorite in Europe with only a modest following in the United States. It includes some of what he did scientifically in his deep questing of what is it that humans and dolphins have in common that is more latent in humans at this point in our evolution. Those questions haunt me and I am so grateful for the trail blazing he did.
I highly recommend investing in Jacques Mayol’s Opus Magnum entitled Homo Delphinus: The Dolphin Within Man. It is a very detailed and beautifully documented account of the life of one very special soul. I always think of Jacques when I am swimming with my local pod here knowing that the joy I feel is a replica of what he felt and sometimes, I sense Jacques not so far away after all. Maybe that is even why these wild dolphins here seem to accept my presence . . . they like the company I keep.