David Bright (diver)

David A. Bright (June 29, 1957 - July 8, 2006) was a professional wreck diver. He was the president of the Nautical Research Group, which he founded in 2003, and an avid contributor to documentaries on shipwrecks.

Early life

David A. Bright was born in Niagara Falls, New York in 1957.^[1] He was on his school's swim team and one of his coaches asked if he would be interested in taking scuba lessons. He became a certified scuba diver at 13 years old and started diving around the New York and Canadian areas. He received two bachelor's degrees in biology and German, and two years later got a masters in Physiology, all from Penn State.^[2]

Diving career

After working for pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, David returned to diving full-time. He began searching famous wrecks like the RMS Titanic, the RMS Empress of Ireland, the USS Monitor, and the SS Andrea Doria. His findings helped him get into many documentaries about shipwrecks. He was a member of the Explorers Club, the Marine Technology Society, American Academy of Underwater Sciences, North American Society for Oceanic History, Maritime Archaeological and Historical Society and the Pennsylvania State University Eberly College of Science Alumni Board of Directors.^[1]

Andrea Doria

Bright repeatedly dove the SS Andrea Doria shipwreck, near Nantucket, to research the ship's demise. His first expedition to the wreck showed that the SS Stockholm had caused much more damage to the Dorea than had been originally thought. He kept diving to what many considered the Mount Everest of diving, even after 13 other divers died exploring the wreck. On July 8, 2006, while diving to determine if any damage was caused to the keel of the ship, Bright suffered from decompression sickness and went into cardiac arrest.^[3] He was pronounced dead at Cape Cod Hospital.^[2]

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