Close Encounters of the Dolphin Kind: JoJo, Dean Bernal, and Me

Dolphins have fascinated me as long as I can remember. The TV series, Flipper, broadcast from 1964-67, most likely increased my awareness of these intelligent mammals. (Flipper was a Bottlenose Dolphin, the companion animal of Porter Ricks, Chief Warden at fictional Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve in southern Florida, and his two young sons, Sandy and Bud.)

During my teen years, I recall going to a dolphin show at a marine park in Florida, then watching from the beach near our motel as a pod of dolphins rhythmically broke the surface in unison, only to appear seconds later farther down the beach.

Shortly after becoming a PADI certified scuba diver in 1992, I was privileged to have an up-close-and-personal encounter with "JoJo," an Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin who has been living and playing in the shallow waters of Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands since the early 80’s. While dolphins normally travel together in social groups called pods, JoJo is a solo dolphin, one of only eight dolphins known around the world to voluntarily interact with human beings.

When JoJo began following our Club Med dive boat, the other divers and I were excited to have this creature take an interest in us. After leaving the boat, we quickly donned masks, snorkels and fins, and re-entered the water at the shore, where JoJo was still hanging out, as if waiting for us to come in and play.

(Bottlenose dolphin - Photo credit: PicApp.com)

My heart was beating fast and I was near hyperventilating as I waited for my hoped-for turn – when JoJo would swim alongside me and I could look him in the eye. I longed to bond with this intelligent mammal for a joyous moment in the sea that was his home, not mine.

And then it happened. His large, grey body, marked with the scars of past encounters with boats and jet-skis, was next to mine. He was my own special playmate for a brief time – too brief, yet exhilarating. He then shot away like a "bottlenose" rocket, speeding off into the turquoise world of the deep that was his, and within seconds, was out of sight. 

I had read a little about JoJo before arriving at Club Med Turquoise, and that it was among the beach areas where JoJo was frequently seen, but never dreamed I'd be honored with more than a sighting from the dive boat.

While a Club Med guest, I learned more about JoJo and Dean Bernal, who first met JoJo while visiting the Turks and Caicos in 1984. During an ocean swim, a young dolphin began following him during his daily ocean swims, closer and closer over the days and weeks that passed. By the following year, Dean, a professional diver, had taken up residence on the island and began researching the animal he named JoJo, and documenting his human/dolphin friendship.

You can read his story in more detail on the Marine Wildlife Foundation’s website, which includes the chronology of events that led the government of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Minister of Natural Resources to declare JoJo a National Treasure, and to Dean being appointed JoJo's official Marine Mammal Warden for the Turks and Caicos Islands. As Marine Director for Protection of Reefs and Islands from Degradation and Exploitation (PRIDE), Dean has been able to establish and maintain the JoJo Project and the Dolphin, Whale, and Marine Wildlife Foundation.

By the time I first visited the Turks and Caicos in the early 90’s, the JoJo Project had become well known throughout the world. Dean and JoJo have appeared on PBS’ Nature and Into the Wild – Dolphins (with Robin Williams), and well as the IMAX film, Dolphins, in 2000.

What amazes me is that JoJo is still around, which led me to research the lifespan of bottlenose dolphins. According to National Geographic’s website, their average lifespan in the wild is 45-50 years, while the Sarasota Dolphin Research Project (SDRP), which bills itself as the longest-running study of wild dolphins in the world, estimates most bottlenose dolphins probably live 20 years or less. They also say that some dolphins live into their 40s; a few females have even lived past 50, comparable to a human living to be about 100. Only 1% to 2% of dolphins reach that age.

JoJo is about eight feet long and weighs around 250 lbs. He is estimated to be around 27 years old and, despite being a solo dolphin, JoJo has happily found a mate that Dean named Chenoa. They became the proud parents of a male calf named JoJo, Jr., affectionately called MoJo, in 2007.

The Dean and JoJo Story documentary is in the works. In the meantime, enjoy watching these short videos of Dean and JoJo in the magical waters of the Turks and Caicos:

Dean and JoJo

The Dean & JoJo Story: The story of a man and a dolphin

If you would like to be notified of future articles as they are posted, please go to the top of the page and click on Subscribe. Your email address will not be shared.