Valerie May Taylor AM (born 9 November 1935) is an Australian conservationist, photographer, and filmmaker, and an inaugural member of the diving hall of fame. With her husband Ron Taylor, she made documentaries about sharks, and filmed sequences for films including '' Jaws'' (1975).

Early life and education

Born in

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

, Sydney on 9 November 1935, Valerie May Taylor spent her early years in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Her mother was a housewife and her father an engineer for

Exide Exide was originally a brand name for batteries produced by The Electric Storage Battery Company and later became Exide Holdings, Inc. doing business as Exide Technologies, an American lead–acid battery, lead-acid batteries manufacturing com ...

Batteries. The family moved to New Zealand in 1939 to set up a battery factory there, but were unable to return to Australia when WWII broke out. At 12 years of age Taylor contracted

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

during the 1948 polio epidemic. Isolated from her family, friends and schooling she slowly recovered with the support of the " Sister Kenny Treatment and Rehabilitation Method". Taylor fell behind in her studies and left school at 15 years of age to work for the NZ Film Unit drawing for an animation studio. Taylor returned to Sydney with her family to settle in the beachside suburb of

Port Hacking Port Hacking Estuary ( Aboriginal Tharawal language: ''Deeban''), an open youthful tide dominated, drowned valley estuary, is located in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia approximately south of Sydney central business district. Po ...

, where she started diving in 1956 and took up spearfishing in 1960 to provide food for the family. She became an Australian champion scuba and spearfisher and met her future husband, Ron Taylor, at the St George's Spearfishing Club.

Career

In 1967 a Belgian scientific expedition asked the Taylors' to join their endeavour to record life on the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

. Over several months, Valerie dove the entire length of the Great Barrier Reef from

Lady Elliot Island Lady Elliot Island is the southernmost coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The island lies north-east of Bundaberg and covers an area of approximately . It is part of the Capricorn and Bunker Group of islands and is owned by the C ...

up to the Torres Strait. Taylor and her husband made documentary films about sharks, and were the first people to film

great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...

s without the protection of a cage in 1992. Their work also included '' Blue Water, White Death'', in which they swam cageless among a school of

oceanic whitetip shark The oceanic whitetip shark (''Carcharhinus longimanus'') is a large requiem shark inhabiting the pelagic zone of tropical and warm temperate seas. It has a stocky body with its iconic elongated rounded fins, with white tips. The species is ...

s feeding on a whale carcass. The documentary was successful, and attracted the attention of

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

, who called on them to shoot the real great white shark sequences for '' Jaws''. In addition to their work in film, the Taylors have performed conservation work in Australia and elsewhere. They have campaigned to prevent

oil exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth's crust using petroleum geology. Exploration methods V ...

in Ningaloo Marine Park, the overturning of mining rights on

Coral Sea Islands The Coral Sea Islands Territory is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, external territory of Australia which comprises a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, north-east of ...

, the protection of the

prior to its being awarded

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

status, and they lobbied for marine sanctuary zones in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. Taylor worked as an underwater photographer, with some of her work appearing in ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' magazine. In 1973, some macro images of coral and invertebrates on the Great Barrier Reef were featured on its front cover. During the early 1980s Taylor began experiments with sharks wearing a steel mesh suit. The 1981 front cover of ''National Geographic'' magazine featured Taylor, off the coast of California, during one of these experiments with

blue shark The blue shark (''Prionace glauca''), also known as the great blue shark, is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae and the only member of its genus which inhabits deep waters in the world's temperate and tropical oceans. Ave ...

s wearing a

chainmail Mail (sometimes spelled maille and, since the 18th century, colloquially referred to as chain mail, chainmail or chain-mail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common milita ...

suit. Taylor remained active in lobbying in favour of marine conservation into the 21st century. She campaigned against ocean plastic pollution overfishing. In 2014, Taylor campaigned against an Opposition Bill to remove sanctuary zones from marine parks in South Australia.

Recognition and awards

In 1981 Taylor was awarded the NOGI award for Arts, Academy of Underwater Arts & Sciences, presented by the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences (AUAS). In 1986, Taylor was appointed by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, the Rider of the

Order of the Golden Ark The Most Excellent Order of the Golden Ark () is a Dutch order of merit established in 1971 by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. It is awarded to people for major contributions to nature conservation. Although not awarded by the government o ...

for

marine conservation Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is i ...

. She was recognised for her successful efforts protecting of the habitat of the potato cod near

Lizard Island Lizard Island, also known as Jiigurru or Dyiigurra, is an island on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, northwest of Brisbane. It is part of the Lizard Island Group that also includes Palfrey Island, Queensland, Palfrey Island, and ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

– the first gazetted protection of the Great Barrier Reef. She was awarded the 1997 American Nature Photographer of the year award for a picture of a

whale shark The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter feeder, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known Extant taxon, extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of . The whale shark holds many records for ...

swimming with her nephew in Ningaloo Marine Park. By 2000 she was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame. In 2001, she was awarded the Serventy Conservation Medal for her work with Ron Taylor in promoting a greater understanding of the Great Barrier Reef and the need to protect its wildlife. At 66 years old she was still diving with sharks, and was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

for service to Australian society in marine conservation and the Australian Senior Achiever of the Year. In 2008 Taylor received the Australian Geographic Lifetime of Conservation award. In 2010 Taylor was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

For service to conservation and the environment as an advocate for the protection and preservation of marine wildlife and habitats, particularly the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef, and as an underwater cinematographer and photographer. In 2021 a feature-length documentary film featuring archival footage as well as Taylor's life as an 85-year-old was made by Australian filmmaker Sally Aitken, called ''Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story''. The film screened at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

Personal awards

* 1981 – NOGI award for Arts, Academy of Underwater Arts & Sciences * 1986 –

presented by his Royal Highness,

Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (later Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands; 29 June 1911 – 1 December 2004) was Prince of the Netherlands from 6 September 1948 to 30 April 1980 as the husband of Queen Juliana. They had four daughters to ...

* 1993 – SSI Platinum Pro 5000 Diver * 1997: American Nature Photographer of the year award (sponsored by the American Press Club) for a picture of a

swimming with her nephew in Ningaloo Marine Park * 2000 – Women Divers Hall of Fame * 2001 – Centenary Medal and the Australian Senior Achiever of the year * 2001 - Serventy Conservation Medal * 2010 – Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) * 2021 - Jackson Wild Legacy Award

Awards won with Ron

*1992 – Australian Geographic Adventurer of the Year *1997 – Jury award for the film ''Shark Pod'' at the Antibes Underwater Festival, France'Taylor, Valerie, 1998, 'Testing the Shark POD'

, Retrieved 1 October 2012. *1998 – Golden Palm Award for the book ''Blue Wilderness'' at the 25th World Festival of Underwater Pictures in

Antibes Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Ca ...

, France *2000 – International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame *2002 – Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia's Serventy Conservation Medal *2008 – Australian Geographic Lifetime of Conservation Award *2011 – Australian Cinematographers Society Hall of Fame *Life membership of the St George Spearfishing & Freediving Club Inc. (date of conferral not stated) *2012 – Renaming of the newly-declared ''Neptune Islands Group Marine Park'' surrounding the

Neptune Islands The Neptune Islands consist of two groups of islands located close to the entrance to Spencer Gulf in South Australia. They are well known as a venue for great white shark tourism. Description The Neptune Islands consists of two groups of isla ...

in South Australia to the ''Neptune Islands Group (Ron and Valerie Taylor) Marine Park''

Personal life

Taylor married Ron Taylor in December 1963,Kennett, Joan; 'Underwater Romance', ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', Wednesday 5 February 1964, pages 2 and 3

retrieved 24 September 2012. and they worked and lived together until his death from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

in 2012.

Publications

She has illustrated and written a children's colouring book, ''The Undersea Artistry'' (2017) and published her memoirs in 2019, titled ''An Adventurous Life''.

Film and television credits

Documentaries

Documentaries in which Taylor was involved in the production include: *''Playing with Sharks'' for

Movietone News Movietone News was a newsreel that ran from December 1927 to 1963 in the United States. Under the name British Movietone News, it also ran in the United Kingdom from 1929 to 1986, in France also produced by Fox-Europa, in Spain in the early 1930s a ...

, 1962 * ''Shark Hunters'', 1963; with

Ben Cropp Benjamin Cropp (born 19 January 1936) is an Australian documentary filmmaker, conservationist and a former Open Australian spearfishing champion. Formerly a shark hunter, Cropp retired from that trade in 1962 to pursue oceanic Documentary film ...

* ''Slaughter at Saumarez'', 1964 * ''Skindiving Paradise'', 1965 * ''Revenge of a Shark Victim'', 1965; about

Rodney Fox Rodney Winston Fox (born 9 November 1940) is an Australian film maker, conservationist, survivor of an attack by a great white shark, and one of the world's foremost authorities on that species. He was inducted into the International Scuba D ...

(re-edited by

Robert Raymond Robert Alwyn Raymond OAM (7 July 1922 – 26 September 2003) was an Australian Logie Award winning producer, director, writer, filmmaker and journalist. A pioneer of Australian television, he with Michael Charlton in 1961, co-founded the Aus ...

into ''SHARK'' which subsequently received a

Logie Award The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Television in Australia, Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The eve ...

) * ''Surf Scene'', 1965 * ''Will the Barrier Reef Cure Claude Clough?'', 1966 * ''Belgian Scientific Expedition'', for University of Liège 1967 * ''The Underwater World of Ron Taylor'', 1967, narrated live by Ron Taylor * ''The Cave Divers'', 1967; for W.D. & H.O. Wills (Aust) * ''Sharks'', 1975; for Time-Life Television * ''The Great Barrier Reef'', 1978; for Time-Life Television * ''The Wreck of the Yongala'', 1981 * ''The Great Barrier Reef'' (IMAX), 1982; technical consultants * ''Operation Shark Bite'', 1982 * ''Give Sharks a Chance'', 1991; with Richard Dennison for

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

and the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

* ''Shark Shocker'' 1993 (with Richard Dennison) for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

UK * ''Shadow over the Reef'', 1993 * ''Mystique of the Pearl'', for

Film Australia Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under differ ...

, 1995 * ''Shark Pod'', 1996 * ''Shadow of the Shark'' (1999), for

Australian Geographic Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the ''Australian Geographic'' and Australian Geographic Adventure magazine, australiangeographic.com.au and operates, either itself or business partners, Australian Geographic stores, Aus ...

Feature fiction films

* ''

Age of Consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to Human sexual activity, sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is un ...

'', 1968 * '' The Intruders'' (also known as ''Skippy and the Intruders''), 1969 * '' Blue Water, White Death'', 1971 * '' Jaws'', 1975 * ''Sharks and Men - Uomini e Squali'', 1976 director Bruno Vailati * ''

Orca The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...

'', 1976; live shark sequences * '' The Last Wave'', 1977; underwater sequences * ''

Jaws 2 ''Jaws 2'' is a 1978 American horror thriller film directed by Jeannot Szwarc and co-written by Carl Gottlieb. It is the sequel to Steven Spielberg's '' Jaws'' (1975), and the second installment in the ''Jaws'' franchise. The film stars Roy ...

'', 1978 * ''

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

'', 1981; underwater sequences * '' A Dangerous Summer'', 1982: underwater sequences * '' Year of living Dangerously'', 1982 * '' The Blue Lagoon'', 1980; underwater sequences * ''The Silent One'', 1983 * '' Sky Pirates'', 1984, underwater sequences * ''

Frog Dreaming ''Frog Dreaming'' is a 1986 Australian family adventure film written by Everett De Roche and directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith. It starred Henry Thomas, Tony Barry, Rachel Friend and Tamsin West. Plot An American boy, Cody (Thomas), whose pare ...

'', 1986 * '' The Rescue'', for Walt Disney, 1987 * ''

Return to the Blue Lagoon ''Return to the Blue Lagoon'' is a 1991 American South Seas romantic adventure film directed and produced by William A. Graham and starring Milla Jovovich and Brian Krause. The film is a sequel to '' The Blue Lagoon'' (1980). The screenplay b ...

'', 1990, underwater sequences * ''

Honeymoon in Vegas ''Honeymoon in Vegas'' is a 1992 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Andrew Bergman and starring James Caan, Nicolas Cage and Sarah Jessica Parker. Plot Private eye Jack Singer swore to his mother on her deathbed that h ...

'', 1991, underwater sequences * '' Police Story 4: First Strike'', 1995; underwater sequences * '' The Island of Dr Moreau'', 1995, live shark sequences

Television credits

* ''

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo ''Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'' (known commonly as ''Skippy'') is an Australian television series created by Australian actor John McCallum, Lionel (Bob) Austin, and Lee Robinson, produced from 1967 to 1969 (airing from 5 February 1968 to 4 May 1 ...

'', Episode 3 – ''Golden Reef'' (1968) – original story & Episode 57 – ''The Shark Taggers'' (1968) – underwater sequences * ''Contrabandits'' (30 episode series), 1967–68; underwater sequences and diving instruction for cast * ''

Barrier Reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

'' (39-episode series), 1971–1972; direction of underwater photography, stunt work and minor acting roles * ''Taylor's Inner Space'' (13-episode series), 1972–1973 with soundtrack composed by Sven Libaek and narration by

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

* ''

Those Amazing Animals ''That's Incredible!'' is an American reality television show that aired on the ABC television network from 1980 to 1984. In the tradition of ''You Asked for It'', ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' and '' Real People'', the show featured people p ...

'', 1980–1981; contributed to underwater segments * ''

Fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

'', 1985; underwater sequences * ''Blue Wilderness'' (6 episodes)

1992 cageless shark-diving expedition The 1992 cageless shark-diving expedition was the world's first recorded intentionally cageless dive with great white sharks, contributing to a change in public opinions about the supposed ferocity of these animals. History The dive took place i ...

, 1992; with Richard Dennison for ''National Geographic'' and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * '' Flipper'', 1995 series; underwater still photography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Valerie Australian underwater divers Australian photographers Living people Members of the Order of Australia Australian documentary film directors Australian spearfishers Australian sportswomen Female spearfishers 1935 births People from Sydney Australian women photographers Women Divers Hall of Fame 20th-century Australian sportswomen Australian women documentary filmmakers