Dr. Terry Maas, an oral surgeon, has practiced the sport of freediving for 50 years. In his early years, he won the National Individual Spearfishing Championship 4 times while his team won 12 team titles. He represented the United States in 4 world competitions. He held records for the largest bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna taken while breath holding.
During the last 30 years, Dr. Maas has turned his attention to teaching his sport and to documenting some of the amazing sights he has witnessed. His two books Blue Water Hunting and Freediving and Freedive!—co-authored David Sipperly—have sold over 30,000 copies. Terry was the subject of the widely acclaimed PBS one-hour special Blue Water Hunters. Terry has been featured in Sports Illustrated and many other national magazines and newspapers. His photo journalism story on Manta Rays was featured as the cover story for Mexico’s most widely circulated travel magazine.
Marine Conservation NGOs often use Dr. Maas’s images of turtles and sharks captured in commercial gill nets and on long lines to illustrate their causes. Terry is a director of Sea Watch, an organization for the preservation of the Sea of Cortez. He is currently a diver representative to California Marine Life Protection Act committee charged with designing marine reserves for the state.
With the advent of digital, high-definition cameras, Terry’s interest in underwater video has been rekindled. Recently, he acted as the primary cameraman and host for an Out Door Channel show where he shot 23 shows, almost all while breath holding. Terry is currently developing a safety device for breath hold divers, which brings them to the surface if they stay down too long or descend too deep. His latest venture is producing an educational children’s show on marine life featuring his 13-year old daughter Marissa who hosts the show and who freedives with the featured animals-dolphins, manta rays, whales and sharks.