David A. Bright (June 29, 1957 – July 8, 2006) was an American underwater explorer anddiver.[1] He was the president of theNautical Research Group, which he founded in 2003, and an avid contributor to documentaries on shipwrecks.
Bright was born inNiagara Falls, New York in 1957.[2] He was on his school's swimming team and one of his coaches asked if he would be interested in takingscuba lessons. He became a certified scuba diver at 13 years of age and started diving around the New York and Canadian areas. He received two bachelor's degrees inbiology andGerman, and two years later got a masters inPhysiology, all fromPenn State.[3]
After working for pharmaceutical companies, includingPfizer, Bright returned to diving full-time. He began searching famous wrecks likeRMS Titanic,RMS Empress of Ireland,USS Monitor, andSS Andrea Doria. His findings helped him get into many documentaries about shipwrecks. He was a member of theExplorers Club, theMarine 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.[2]
Bright repeatedly dived on theSSAndrea Doria shipwreck, nearNantucket, to research the ship's demise. His first expedition to the wreck showed that theStockholm had caused much more damage to theDoria 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 fromdecompression sickness and went into cardiac arrest.[1] He was pronounced dead atCape Cod Hospital.[3]
