Jacques Mayol (1 April 1927 – 22 December 2001) was a French diver and the holder of many world records in free diving.
The 1988 film The Big Blue, directed by Luc Besson was inspired by his life story and that of his friend, Enzo Maiorca. Mayol was one of the screenwriters and authored the book Homo Delphinus: the Dolphin Within Man of his philosophy about the aquatic origins of humans.
Mayol’s fascination with dolphins started in 1955 when he was working as a commercial diver at an aquarium in Miami, Florida. There he met a female dolphin called Clown and formed a close bond with her. Imitating Clown, he learned how to hold his breath longer and how to behave and integrate himself underwater. It is the dolphins that became the foundation of Mayol’s life philosophy of “Homo Delphinus“.
Throughout his book L’Homo Delphinus, Mayol expounds his theories about man’s relationship with the sea where he explores the aquatic ape hypothesis of human origins. He felt man could re–awaken his dormant mental and spiritual faculties and the physiological mechanisms from the depths of his psyche and genetic make-up to develop the potential of his aquatic origins, to become a Homo delphinus.
Jacques Mayol predicted that, within a couple of generations, some people would be able to dive to 200 m and hold their breath for up to 10 minutes.