Melody Horrill

Melody Horrill (who was born in the United Kingdom in 1968 and emigrated to Australia in 1976 for the Weekend Australian magazine, where she recounted a difficult childhood with domestic abuse

At university, Horrill began doing voluntary work with Adelaide's Port River dolphins, encouraged by lecturer Mike Bossley. They, together with some other students, went on to form the then-Australian Dolphin Research Foundation to help protect and promote awareness of the dolphins. As she developed her media career, Horrill created a dolphin sponsorship program, secured TV sponsorship and raised community awareness across South Australia through ongoing media stories. She organised school and community group visits and worked with a SA bakery to secure a sponsorship agreement where bread carried a picture of a rare albino dolphin.

Horrill also produced a documentary, Dance with a Dolphin, about a solitary Port Diver dolphin called Jock, which she then took to CNN International – it was aired across the world. The work of the Foundation and the documentary helped convince the then-State Government to declare the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary in 2005. In a 2020 interview, she described that experience: “CNN Atlanta picked up one and flew me over to the US to present it to an international audience. It resulted in the formation of Australia's first Dolphin Sanctuary in the Port River – perhaps my proudest moment.” and Melbourne's 3AW to highlight the dolphin situation and the need for more research and more protection to address the issues. In her article and interviews, she described how in her case, the connection to the dolphins had healed her as a person following her traumatic childhood.

Publication of personal memoir, other books, and other recent work In May 2022, Australian publishers Allen & Unwin published Horrill's personal memoir, entitled A Dolphin called Jock. The book describes her childhood and youth dealing with extreme domestic violence and tells how her relationship with a wild, solitary dolphin called Jock and the other dolphins of the Port River helped her recover from these traumatic experiences. A Dolphin called Jock was republished in September 2023 by Canada-based Greystone Books in 2023 under the title The Dolphin who Saved Me in the American, Canadian and United Kingdom markets. Her book was endorsed by world-renowned ethologist and environmentalist, Dr Jane Goodall DBE. Horrill and Jock's story was also featured in British actor Martin Clunes's book Meetings with Remarkable Animals, published in December 2024.

As of January 2025, Horrill had penned two more books, including a young adult fiction titled ‘A Cat Called Q and the Magic Globe’, published by 12 Willows Press. The book follows the adventures of Sheri, a young girl who struggles with self-confidence and trauma from bullying and her quest to save a mythical realm and its animals from environmental ruin. The feline hero of the book is based on Horrill's rescue cat called Q. Her third book, titled Sheltered, published by Ultimo Press, is non-fiction and features a series of stories about rescue animals around Australia. The book focuses on how the animals ultimately rescue the people who save them. Sheltered was again endorsed by Dr Jane Goodall DBE and also by Lady Primrose Potter A.C.

Horrill is co-chair of the Jane Goodall Institute's international Cetacean Committee. On August 21, 2023, Horrill, speaking for the JGI committee, commented on the recent death of the orca Tokitae (Lolita). Horrill said: Horrill is also an Ambassador for the Kangaroo/Victor Harbor Dolphin Watch and Retired Police Dogs SA.