Island Pilot Doug Lindley Featured In New Discovery Channel Show "Harpoon Hunters"

A new TV series on the Discovery Channel will highlight the Atlantic bluefin tuna harpoon fishery off Cape Cod, and a local Nantucket pilot will be among the lead characters in the reality show.

"Harpoon Hunters" debuts this Friday, and viewers on Nantucket will recognize island spotter pilot Doug Lindley, who will be featured in his role of helping to guide Capt. Tyler Macallister and his crew to the tuna from above.

Flying in his Piper PA-18 Super Cub plane - known as 44 Zulu - Lindley is the eyes in the sky for the fishermen below seeking to land as many of the prized tunas as possible during the short season each summer before the overall limit is met. Each fish can be worth as much as $10,000.

"There’s not many guys that do it," Lindley said of the harpoon fishermen who will be the main characters of the show. "It’s kind of a lost art."

To document Lindley's role in the hunt, the producers of "Harpoon Hunters" attached four cameras to his plane, including one on the landing gear pointed downward, and three others around the aircraft pointing toward the cockpit.

"If you're not on the fish from the boat, they're tough to spot," Lindley explained. "You have to be on top of them to see them. You could be a mile or two away from piles of fish and not know it. From the plane, you can see them from quite a distance. So I'm like the scout to find them."

Once Lindley spies the tuna, he uses a boat radio installed on the plane to alert his team of fishermen below, and the hunt is on. The show will be set up as a contest between the five boats involved.

"These guys are kind of like rivals," Lindley said. "I've flown for the two guys who are the most successful, so I know how both of them work." 

The show, filmed during the early summer of 2024, was produced for Warner Bros. Discovery by Pilgrim Media Group, a division of Lionsgate Alternative Television.

“Armed with nothing but a spear and raw determination, these elite harpooners put everything on the line and it’s immensely thrilling to witness,” said Howard Lee, President of Discovery Networks. “Joining a pantheon of iconic Discovery series that follow maverick jobs in epic settings, Harpoon Hunters also brings us into a high-octane world only a few get to experience in real life.”

Lindley, who started flying in 1980, previously operated a commercial tuna fishing boat, and while he tested out harpoons at one time, primarily did regular rod and reel fishing. While he got out of flying for a time, Lindley said it was actually his surgeon who helped convince him to get back into the cockpit about 10 years ago.

"I was in the hospital after spinal surgery and the doctor who worked on me was into fishing, and we got talking," Lindley recalled "He said 'Anything you want to do, well, you're not getting any younger'."

The words made an impact on Lindley and he soon purchased the Super Cub plane from island resident Bob Garrabrant. When he's not spotting tuna, Lindley does flyovers of Muskeget Island during the offseason on behalf of its owner Crocker Snow, and spots white sharks off Chatham during the summer for a tour company on Cape Cod. 

Lindley told the Current this week that while he's seen the trailers for the show, he's curious to see how the final product turned out, who wins, and whether it resonates with viewers like some of Discovery's other reality hits.

"Harpoon Hunters" premiers this Friday, January 24 at  9 p.m. EST on Discovery Channel.