Gregory Dalex

3 March 1971, France

Has been working with Franck Goddio since 1997.

He first began diving in 1980, in Corsica. He first studied journalism and then one year of archaeology at the Sorbonne. He used to be a competitive swimmer (even competing in the Cup of France, inter-university), and worked four summers as a lifeguard in the South of France. He also worked as a CMAS diving instructor. He has traveled quite a lot… living in various places, including the Ivory Coast. He has worked as a journalist, specializing in diving articles. He also wrote the diving pages for the famous French travel guide, “Le Guide du Routard”… covering Thailand, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Germany, Italy, etc.

What he loves about marine archaeology is imagining --- dreaming --- “When I begin to move the sediments and see the remains of the buildings… I imagine how it was, the building, the town, the people… and then it’s catastrophic destruction.”

One of his favorite moments was this year – finding the large statue of Isis. “She was lying face down, and when Jean Claude and I filled the lift bag, the statue began to turn over. It was a nice surprise to realize it was a woman, and in the thrill of the moment, I accidentally let a little too much air into the lift bag… and Isis stood up, as if alive, for the first time in two thousand plus years!”

“Every project in Egypt, I’ve been very lucky --- every time we’ve found many extraordinary relics!”