Mike DeCamp - Diving Legend

This petition supports the nomination of Michael A. DeCamp as a Diving Legend - a recognition granted by the Beneath the Sea Foundation. As one of the pioneers of the sport of scuba diving, some of his accomplishments include the following:

Mike is known by many divers as the "Father of Northeast Wreck Diving," including many well known divers such as Brad Shead, Gary Gentile and many others

Mike was recognized in several magazines, newspaper articles and books. He was featured many times in Skin Diver magazine as the "Father of Northeast Wreck Diving." He was also featured in the [Morris County] Daily Record in 1968 as "the Great Explorer." He was also featured in a New York Times article on July 26, 1966 describing the dangers and adventures of diving in the Northeast. Many other magazines such as Alert Diver, Natural History Magazine, Immersed (1998) recognized Mike.

Mike was the first to set up scuba trips out of Point Pleasant, NJ, providing the catalyst for others to join the sport and gain popularity starting back in 1954.

Mike was the first to author the first "how to" Wreck Diving Guide, published in 1973 by Peterson Publishing who also published Skin Diver magazine.

Mike pioneered scuba gear that is still in use today - pony bottle, NJ upline

Mike organized and led the very first recreational sport dive on the Andrea Doria in 1966

Mike spent 2.5 months in Antarctica on a diving expedition to study the birth of Weddell seals and their underwater habitat under the ice sponsored by the NY Aquarium and the National Science Foundation. The team had to cut through 10 feet of ice to create an opening in which Mike made his dives
Mike made it possible for the first woman, Evelyn Dudas, to dive on the Andrea Doria in 1967. He set up the trip and insisted she join them or else he would not go

Mike was the photographer and shark cage operator on Captain Frank Mundus' boat, the Cricket II, and produced the documentary film "In the World of Sharks." This was the first shark documentary produced in the US. The expedition was featured in Sports Illustrated in August 1966
Mike was one of the first divers to try new equipment such as fire extinguisher tanks as the first air tanks and the first dry suit "unisuit"

Mike was the first to photograph many of the shipwrecks in the Northeast. His striking photos were featured in many diving books, magazines and newspaper articles. National Geographic magazine featured his pictures in an article about shipwreck diving and treasure hunting

Mike organized the first trip to the Stolt Dagali and was the first diver on the Stolt Dagali where he discovered the body of Hilma Marie Holmen, whom he identified as one of those lost in the sinking of the ship

Mike discovered the USS Bass. He was the first diver and recovered a box with the name on it identifying the wreck

Mike dived on may of the wrecks in the Northeast from the famous Andrea Doria off of Nantucket to the Resor south of Barnegat Inlet, NJ to the Jacob Jones, a destroyer off of Cape May, NJ

Mike is currently writing articles for Wreck Diving magazine

Mike was a native of New Jersey. He grew up in Short Hills and then settled in Morristown where he taught at a private elementary school

In April, he was honored by the New Jersey Historical Divers Association at their annual Shipwreck Symposium. You may have seen him in the new video documentary, "Legends of Northeast Wreck Diving." Now in his 80s, Mike still dives, mostly out of Olympus in Morehead City, North Carolina.