After graduating from Texas Tech University in 1967, DeLoach began a 22-year public school teaching career. He was active in Florida’s cave diving community as a photographer, filmmaker and editor of educational materials. During the same period he wrote travel articles and personality profiles for several national dive publications. In 1971 he published Diving Guide to Underwater Florida, which is currently in its 11^th edition.

A mutual friend introduced Ned to Paul Humann in the mid-1980s. Two years later the pair reunited as co-editors of Ocean Realm magazine. It was during this period that the idea of producing a series of marine life identification books designed for divers was born. Since 1989 the pair have compiled ten comprehensive guides for tropical waters around the world including their popular three-volume Reef Set for the Caribbean and Florida regions. In 2000 Ned authored Reef Fish Behavior, a compendium of what was currently known about the natural history and behavior of fishes in the Tropical Western Atlantic.