Underwater cinematographer and adventurist Mike DeGruy died February 3 in a helicopter crash off the coast of Australia while scouting locations for an upcoming project.
DeGruy helped find the new campus for Santa Barbara Middle School and inspired every 9th grade student and staff on Channel Islands Expeditions. “Mike had an incredible sense of adventure, wicked sense of humor, and the knack for telling stories that became larger than life, “ said SBMS Headmaster, Brian McWilliams. “Michael’s contributions to our community and planet were only eclipsed by his love for his wife Mimi, and his children Frances and Max.”
In a 2005 interview with this reporter DeGruy discussed how much he enjoyed making documentaries but mentions that the downside was traveling so much. “When you’ve got two kids at home and a wife that has to take care of the house, the school, and a whole lot of other things while you’re away, it’s not the same anymore,” DeGruy said. “I think it is something that has to be carefully planned out and nurtured in order for it to work. And what I mean by nurtured is your spouse or your kids or whoever is missing you while you’re away, at least you hope they’re missing you, you have to talk to them a lot.”
He traveled the World, his radar always on, looking for whatever was going on for him to film. “You have an inherent flexibility in natural history documentaries,” DeGruy said. “If you’re going out to film a salmon run in Alaska and they’re not running. There’s no salmon and you spend weeks waiting, however sea otters are being taken by bald eagles right over there. Well the heck with the salmon. You switch gears and do a story about bald eagles and sea otters.” He loved the unpredictability of documentary filmmaking and it’s what kept him in this business for so many years. That plus the fact that he got out into the natural world, and interacted with wonderful animals as well as people.
The inherent educational aspect to natural history films intrigued DeGruy. But his goal was to entertain his audience. “People don’t like to be told how we’re screwing things up. They like to figure that out on their own,” DeGruy said. “David Attenborough, while he has the capacity to be the best spokesperson I know of for the environment, he has chosen to do it in a way that I appreciate which is ‘Let’s get people in the seats. Let’s get people to see the planet for what it is and let them figure out for themselves how they might help preserve it.’”
He curated the Reel Nature sidebar for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and was the force behind the festival’s Field Trip to the Movies. “We’ve suffered a tremendous loss,” said an SBIFF spokesperson. “He sent a message asking how everything was going and was so excited, saying ‘I can’t wait to tell you about this little adventure.’”
DeGruy has gone on to even great adventures beyond and he will be sourly missed. His friend Maureen McFadden said, “Mike’s death leaves a gaping hole in the universe.”