Terry Maas, D.D.S.

Terry Maas studied marine biology as an undergraduate at the University of California. He also holds three advanced degrees; Doctor of Dental Science from University of the Pacific, Resident in Oral Surgery from the University of Southern California and Masters of Business Administration from Pepperdine University.

Terry Maas is a veteran free-diver. He started diving when he was 14 years old and has been free-diving steadily for the last 43 years. In his early years, Terry won the individual U.S. National Spearfishing championships 4 times. His team won 10 championships. In 1982, Terry’s interests turned to blue water hunting. For the next 10 years he captured 3 world records for spearing yellowfin and bluefin tuna. His 398-lb Pacific bluefin tuna record still stands. In 1995, Terry published his first book, "Blue Water Hunting and Free-diving". This book is richly illustrated with pictures and stories from Mexico. Several years later he published his second book on the subject of free-diving, "Free-dive".

Mr. Maas is also an accomplished videographer. His rare footage of wild yellowfin tuna taken at Socorro Island is displayed in two sections of the Monterey Bay Aquarium open water exhibit. He has produced two commercial videos, "The Joy of Freediving" and "Freediving Made Easy".

His 1992 video, "Bluewater Hunters" for PBS has been viewed by over 25 million people and has helped introduce the sport of bluewater spearfishing to the world. Terry Maas’ diving has been featured in such publications as Sports Illustrated, American Airlines magazine, The Miami Herald and the Los Angeles Times. He lectures nationally using his slides and video presentations to educate those interested in the adventure of bluewater hunting and marine resource conservation. Terry also documents the underwater world on still film and in magazine articles. His article documenting the natural history of manta rays was featured as the front-cover exhibit in Mexico Desconocido (July 2002). His articles and photographs have been featured in such US magazines as Sport Diver, Skin Diver, Scuba Times, Western Diver and California Diving News. Internationally, his articles appear in Sterne (Germany), Focus (Italy) and Australian Freediving and Spearfishing News.

While Terry remains an avid hunter, he is very selective in his take and is deeply concerned with conservation of the ocean’s bounty. He shares his underwater images of sea creatures captured in commercial poaching nets and on hooks with many environmental organizations. He is an active supporter of Sea Watch and in 2000 he was inducted as a fellow into the Explorers’ Club of New York.

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