Team : Dominique Sumian

Board Member

Dominique Sumian was a critical participant in many Cousteau expeditions. Originally a commando Marine and frogman in the French Navy, he was dispatched to the French Oceanographic Service (COF) as Chief Diver and Second Captain on the SS Espadon, where he first served with Jacques Cousteau. Later the Chief Diver on the Calypso, Mr. Sumian researched and filmed in the Red Sea and in the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. Among the films he worked on were Emmy-winners The Sharks and Life and Death of the Coral Sea, and award-winners In Search of the Deep, The Whales, and The Unexpected Voyage of Pepito and Christobal. He also worked with Philippe Cousteau as right hand man and chief diver on many long, arduous, and successful filming expeditions. In the intervening years, Mr. Sumian has created companies and managed others, with particular expertise in public relations and export and production management. He currently works for U.S. Divers Aqualung and lives in Carlsbad, California, with his wife Carol.