While Bret Gilliam worked with great white sharks off Guadalupe Island in Mexico, this 18ft, one- Interview with ton female swam up to him and posed less than three feet away, while he was outside the cage. Bret Gilliam —Trailblazer & Founder of TDI Interview by Andrea Murdock Alpini Photos courtesy of Bret Gilliam If you love scuba diving, deep dark waters, decompression procedures and mixed gas the- ory, you must have heard the name many times: Bret Gilliam, a revolutionary trailblazer in the dive world. Over the past few decades, he has changed the way scuba diving is practiced. BRET GILLIAM Bret Gilliam is a kind of living of his tales. We discussed hyperbaric the interview. For the full-length version, of view requires time. So, take a deep anecdote, a man with a thou- medicine, diving records, the scuba please go to: xray-mag.com/content/ breath and plunge into the mystic world sand dive stories. Recently, industry and the future of closed circuit interview-bret-gilliam-founder-tdi that is Gilliam’s life, in which submarines, PHOTO COURTESY OF BRET GILLIAM I had the chance to sit and rebreathers (CCR) as well as open circuit. Nothing appears as it really is. Gilliam sea vessels, humpback whales and Bret Gilliam being inducted into the talk with him and hear some What follows is the condensed version of is a kaleidoscope; getting inside his point ocean exploration merge into one. AUAS Diving Hall of Fame in 2012 72 X-RAY MAG : 106 : 2021 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO PHOTO COURTESY OF BRET GILLIAM Bret Gilliam and his father Gill diving in the Bahamas in 1959 (far left). He started diving in Key West at the age of eight— it set the path for his entire career; Dr Mendel Petersen of the Smithsonian Institution, George Tyson, Dr Alan Albright, profile Bret Gilliam and Dave Coston excavating the wreck of the Santa Monica off the island of St John in 1972, with their COURTESYBRET GILLIAM OF early proton magnetometer (left); Gilliam operating a rec- ompression chamber for NOAA in 1988 (right) in the growing field of he serves as a consultant technical diving, elec- to businesses in the dive tronic dive computers, industry as well as a litiga- rebreathers and other tion strategist and diving/ technological advances. maritime expert witness. He was inducted into the Diving Hall of Fame AMA: What was the dive by the Academy of that changed your way Underwater Arts and of seeing scuba diving? I Sciences (AUAS) in 2012 mean, a dive that was like as a recipient of the an epiphany, a dive that NOGI Award. Currently, changed your point of view in technical matters... BG: I began diving at age eight in 1959 in Key West, Florida. My father had successful entrepreneurs. introduced me to snor- His papers have been pub- keling and we watched PHOTO COURTESY OF BRET GILLIAM lished by the International the first television epi- Society of Aquatic Medicine sodes of Sea Hunt that year. That show the dive industry decline. (ISAM), Divers Alert inspired me to take up diving, and my The leadership in the industry has also Network (DAN), Undersea father allowed me to sign up for some of suffered, and with the current state of and Hyperbaric Medical the first dive training offered in that era. financial decline and the effects of the Society (UHMS), National I started my first business in 1961 at age pandemic, I do not have a good feeling Oceanic and Atmospheric ten, trapping fish to sell to the Key West about the future. I sold the last of my dive Administration (NOAA), and Aquarium and to several others. I was companies in 2005, and it was the best South Pacific Underwater making good money with my fish sales, decision I made. I am still involved in high- Background Medicine Society (SPUMS). He was also and my little company was successful. end book publishing and legal consulting. With a professional career that now a contributing author and editor on the That launched my initial involvement in Many of us from the era developed very spans over five decades, Gilliam has topic of “Diving Emergency Medicine” diving, and I was hooked. sophisticated and efficient business mod- been involved in the dive industry since in the reference textbook, Prehospital els in all segments, but many lacked the the early ’70s. Since he began diving in Trauma Life Support, published by Mosby AMA: Can you describe the golden entrepreneurial skills and vision to achieve 1959, he has logged over 19,000 dives Lifeline, used by physicians, nurses, DMTs, era of scuba diving, which you lived long-term success. When I sold the last of around the world. In addition to founding EMTs and paramedics. through? Was it a heritage? my companies, the aggregate value was dive training agencies such as TDI, SDI Gilliam’s awards include NAUI’s about US$80 million. That’s almost beyond and ERDI and dive magazines such as Outstanding Contribution to Diving BG: The dive industry was constantly belief today. Scuba Times, Deep Tech and Fathoms, Award (twice) and Beneath the Sea’s evolving, and some incredible growth Gilliam’s background includes scientific Diver of the Year, as well as interna- began in the early ‘70s. Professional dive AMA: As a captain, you have been expeditions, military/commercial projects, tional recognition for his film work and facilities were created, as well as mod- merged with the sea, from the surface to operation of hyperbaric dive treatment photography. He is listed in the Who’s ern dive vessels, expanded certification its deepest points. What does the ocean facilities, liveaboards and cruise ships, Who in Scuba Diving, published by Best training, astounding advances in equip- or the sea represent for you? dive store and resort operations, equip- Publishing, and was inducted into the ment design, exotic dive travel… industry ment manufacturing (UWATEC), and internationally prestigious Explorers Club growth was superb. We began to see the BG: From my earliest experiences in life filming projects for feature films, docu- as a “Fellow National” in 1993. Gilliam decline in the late ‘90s as younger partic- as a kid, the ocean has drawn me in. I mentaries and television. He is widely rec- has twice held the world record for deep PHOTO COURTESY OF BRET GILLIAM ipants were not as attracted to diving as learned to swim before I could walk and ognized as one of the dive world’s most diving on scuba and has been a leader Bret Gilliam on a film project for National a sport. Since about 2003, we have seen became an experienced snorkeler as a Geographic in the Virgin Islands in 1977 73 X-RAY MAG : 106 : 2021 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO PHOTO COURTESY OF BRET GILLIAM Bret Gilliam aboard Bret Gilliam, Dick Bonin the Calypso, filming (founder of Scubapro) and Bill with Jacques-Yves Walker outside the first loca- profile Cousteau (left) tion for V.I. Divers, Ltd in 1974 later became the manager Award. I’m truly grateful. had ever met, of their company. I was lucky and we had so enough to work with some of AMA: Exploration, as a pursuit, was once much in com- the best professionals in dive just for a select few, now the word is mon. Ken Loyst research, including early work sometimes abused in conversation. How of Watersport on decompression algorithms, do you interpret this concept? Publishing asked physiology, dive treatments, me to do a saturation habitats, deep BG: I have been involved in worldwide sequel to Deep submersibles, and a seem- exploration for decades and had the Diving, and that ingly endless list of other pro- privilege of working with so many amaz- was a bestseller, jects. For the last 50 years, my ing people. I have been a member of so we collabo- career path has been profes- the Explorers Club for nearly 30 years rated on Mixed sional diving and vessel opera- and greatly admire the organization’s Gas Diving. tions worldwide. contributions. But there are a lot of folks out there that do not actually meet the AMA: When did AMA: Who was the most influ- criteria. It seems that many are more you get the idea ential person you have met in concerned with sewing a patch on their to study the scuba diving? jacket or pumping up their supposed physiology of qualifications... oxygen and its BG: Dick Bonin was an ex- effects in scuba Navy diver and then went on AMA: What are the “must-have” books diving theory? to found Scubapro. His insight, for a dive library? knowledge, expertise and BG: It was cru- wonderful personality bonded BG: The Silent World by Cousteau, any- cial to our surviv- PHOTO COURTESY OF BRET GILLIAM us. His mentorship was invalu- thing by Stan Waterman, al to be able to able. We Sea Change by Sylvia manage the extreme depths we worked Again, back in that era, we routinely four-year-old. My father let me take scuba both made a for- Earle, Fifty Fathoms in and to have a full understanding of worked deep on air, and our standard lessons at age eight in 1959. It changed tune in diving. We by Blancpain, Diving the potential hazards. There are many PO2 limit was 2.0; that was modified to my whole life. The ocean is my natural were friends and with Safety by Bev aspects of diving physiology that were 1.6PO2 in the ’70s.