Jonathan was born in Auckland, New Zealand

Jonathan has spent much of his life on and around water. For a time he joined a yacht chartering company in Corfu, and then in 1990 he returned to New Zealand and co-bought a concrete-hulled boat called Melinda. Jonathan sailed her to Vava’u in the northern islands of the Kingdom of Tonga, where he established a sailing charter business, Sailing Safaris. The business expanded to include humpback whale watching and swimming with whales.

After selling the business in 2007, Jonathan and his partner Tania eventually settled, with Bella, the dog, in a small country town just outside the city of Adelaide in South Australia, where they have renovated a small property. Since leaving Tonga, Jonathan has done several trips as a crew member of Greenpeace, looking after the small boats on the Arctic Sunrise.