David Jourdan | American Ocean Explorer

The extensive survey and documentation of the site of DAKAR that Nauticos conducted in 1999 and 2000, along with the analysis and testimony of experts in deep-sea forensics is part of the enduring legacy of the ship and its brave crew. This evidence of DAKAR’s resting place belongs to the people of Israel, and I intend to continue to preserve it so the story of the ship, its crew, and their families can be fully told. “NEVER FORGOTTEN” is my contribution to that story.

Serving as an active expert adviser to the production, David Jourdan is the founder of Nauticos, a company devoted to the exploration of the deep. He studied physics and engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy and Johns Hopkins University, and served as submarine officer during the Cold War. At the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and as leader of Nauticos, he became an expert in the study of undersea environmental data, and has written about diverse technical topics including underwater navigation, oceanographic survey, remote sensing, underwater vehicles, ocean exploration, and ocean renewable energy applications.

Jourdan’s Nauticos team managed operations for The Discovery Channel during the live broadcast from the Titanic in 1998. Nauticos discovered the World War II Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga, sunk at the Battle of Midway in the Pacific, and the Japanese submarine I-52 in the Atlantic, both at depths exceeding 17,000 feet.

Mr. Jourdan has led two deep ocean expeditions in search of Amelia Earhart’s lost Lockheed Electra.