Mike deGruy

Mike deGruy (December 29, 1951 – February 4, 2012) was an American documentary filmmaker specialising in underwater cinematography. His credits include Life in the Freezer, Trials of Life, The Blue Planet and Pacific Abyss. He was also known for his storytelling, most notably, a passionate TED talk about his love of the ocean on the Mission Blue Voyage. His company, Film Crew Inc., specialized in underwater cinematography, filming for BBC, PBS, National Geographic, and The Discovery Channel. His notable accomplishments include diving beneath thermal vents in both the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean. He was a member of many deep sea expeditions and was a part of the team that first filmed the vampire squid and the nautilus. He was also part of the Deepsea Challenge, where James Cameron went to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. In 2016, production began on a feature-film documentary about his life and work titled Diving Deep. The documentary is planned for release in 2017.

Death

In 2012, he died in a helicopter crash at Jaspers Brush near the town of Berry in New South Wales, Australia. The crash also claimed the life of Australian filmmaker Andrew Wight. Marine biologist Edith Widder dedicated her 2013 TED talk detailing the first filming of the giant squid to his memory.