#50over50: David Gallo

When I was 7 or 8 years old, I got a small set of books that were about different aspects of science like space, ocean, and forests. After reading the book about space, I decided that I should be the first woman to go to space and I cried well into the night when I was told that Valentina Tereshkova already did that. To this day, I remember the feeling of loss and the pain of that heartbreak. After that heartbreak, I decided to move my attention to the book on oceans, and the word “oceanographer” felt like the most beautiful word. For a person who does not know how to swim, that word always held an allure for me. 

So when I met David Gallo for the first time and heard him give an amazing talk about life underwater, it was my dream come true to meet a real live Oceanographer. David was with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and his job was to educate the world about oceans. It was not specifically about cleaning the oceans or study a particular species of life under the oceans but simply to spread the word about the vastness of the oceans and all the wonders that lay beneath. 

David’s journey to the oceans was not a planned one. During his school years, he had Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) that was not well recognized in those years. So, despite being the President of the rocket club and math club and science club, he was told by his teacher that he did not have an aptitude to be an explorer. And that disheartened him completely. After high school, he failed miserably at community college because it was impossible for him to sit in a classroom. So, he did the next best thing … which is to sell women’s shoes and became good at it for almost six years. But then the calling of an explorer came after him despite his distance from it. 

While thumbing through a National Geographic magazine in the shoe store, he came across an article called Window on Earth’s Interior by Robert D Ballard, Ph.D. The article described submarine dives into the deep ocean. David said that there was one illustration that changed his life. It showed a hand-drawn underwater mountain and a tiny little speck on it. The speck was the submarine ALVIN and inside the speck was Dr. Ballard and two colleagues. He took that very magazine to the geology department of the State University of New York in Albany and started asking questions. In doing so he met a Marine Geologist named Paul J Fox, who was a member of the very expedition written by Bob Ballard.  He enrolled in some night courses while being a shoe salesman during the day and began to get A’s instead of C’s and D’s. And those night classes turned into fulltime pursuit of a Bachelors and Masters degrees in Geology and PhD Oceanography. 

After completing his Ph.D. in studying underwater volcanoes, he was offered a research position at a handsome salary. Then he got a call from Bob Ballard, the ver man whose article changed his course of life called him and offered him a job at Woods Hole at a fraction of that salary but with a promise of venturing into new frontiers of learning about oceans. He said that he was fascinated by the opportunity to learn and spread the learning.

He says that the oceans are all around us. Over 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water – most of it in the form of oceans. Water is also in the air as water vapor; it’s in rivers, lakes, glaciers, and underground; and it’s in our bodies too. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and our very own existence is filled with water. 

A big part of David's journey has been studying shipwrecks. According to Popular Mechanics: “A rough estimate puts more than three million shipwrecks on the ocean floor… There are so many shipwrecks that a search operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 discovered two by accident. The Battle of the Atlantic alone, which spanned nearly six years during World War II, claimed over 3,500 merchant vessels, 175 warships, and 783 submarines.”

Over the last three decades, David has been part of many expeditions of shipwrecks – from the remains of Titanic to numerous others. He said that it is the stories of those who traveled in those ships and what we can learn about how people lived in those times, that make him go on these expeditions. He marries the marvels of technology of robotics and Virtual Reality with deep explorations to learn the most. He added that scientists are supposed to be factual and logical but the sight of the boundless ocean, the travel across miles into the ocean to get to the location of a wreck and then delving into the depths to unravel the secrets is the most emotional moment of their lives. There is a sense of mystery, science, and a slice of culture in every exploration. Just as we plan to visit different countries, David plans on visiting different shipwrecks.

 Think of this story: In 1915, Shackleton planned to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. He allegedly placed an ad in London Times to find a crew for the ship Endurance. The ad read:

"Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success."

After an overwhelming response, he chose a group of 27 team members (including Perce Blackborow who was refused a post because of his young age and inexperience but decided to stow away. When his presence was discovered, Shackleton decided to let him stay on as a steward than leave him behind on the shores of South Georgia) to go on an expedition where his ship Endurance got trapped in ice. A narration by his grand-daughter says that as Shackleton watched the ship and his dream go down, he wrote in his diary: "A man must shape himself to a new mark directly the old one goes to ground." And his new mark was to get his crew back home alive. They all made it to Elephant Island, by which time most of the crew was exhausted. Shackleton decided to take five of his best men to journey further to find help, leaving behind 22 men with a promise to rescue them. For over two weeks, they traveled by a small lifeboat in the harshest of conditions to reach the whaling station in South Georgia to put out a call for rescue. Shackleton had to raise money and resources to come back to rescue his men. The 22 who were left behind had to construct shelter from remaining lifeboats, hunt penguins and seals, and wait for 127 days for their rescue. It took Shackleton four attempts to get his men back but he achieved the miracle of bringing back all his men alive. Imagine the stories we would find if we found the wreck. David is working with a team to explore the possibility of finding that shipwreck and the stories within. 

Knowing David has taught me the beauty of worlds unseen by us, the importance of digging our history to find stories of courage that can inspire us in the present, and propel us to open our imaginations in the future. David is a teacher, explorer, a technologist whose passion and profession begin and end with oceans.

My heart aches for all those children who continue to be discouraged by those who can influence their minds and settle for sustenance and store away their dreams of being an explorer. It’s a very thin line that separates being shortchanged and shining in your talent! I am thrilled that David decided to deep dive into the article on that fateful day and join the night classes. Else the world would have missed a magical storyteller of secrets of the ocean.