Jacques-Yves Cousteau: centennial celebrates a pioneer

On this centennial of the birth of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, I'd like to reprint an article from today's National Geographic News, that pretty much says it all as to why this man was such a seminal figure in bringing oceanography and ocean conservation to the masses:

Jacques Cousteau Centennial: What He Did, Why He Matters
Marking Cousteau's hundredth anniversary—five successes, one great legacy.

By Ker Than for National Geographic News
Published June 11, 2010

The late Jacques Cousteau's hundredth birthday is inspiring headlines and, Friday morning, a Google doodle—perhaps the ultimate Internet accolade.

Why is the ocean explorer such a legend? Here are five good reasons.

1. Jacques Cousteau pioneered scuba gear.

With his iconic red beanie and famed ship Calypso, the French marine explorer, inventor, filmmaker, and conservationist sailed the world for much of the late 20th century, educating millions about the Earth's oceans and its inhabitants—and inspiring their protection.

Little of it would have been possible without scuba gear, which Cousteau pioneered when in World War II he, along with engineer Emile Gagnan, co-created the Aqua-Lung, a twin-hose underwater breathing apparatus.

With the Aqua-Lung, Cousteau and his crew were able to explore and film parts of the ocean depths that had never been seen before.

(Get the inside story of Jacques Cousteau's adventures with the National Geographic Society.)

2. Cousteau's underwater documentaries brought a new world to viewers.

Jacques Cousteau's pioneering underwater documentaries—including the Oscar-winning films The Silent World, The Golden Fish, and World Without Sun—"had a storyline," said Clark Lee Merriam, a spokesperson for the Cousteau Society.

"Their message was 'Come with me and look at this wonderful thing and see how it acts and behaves,'" said Merriam, who had worked with Cousteau for nearly 20 years before the explorer died in 1997.

"It was a deep and complete introduction for the general public to the undersea world."

(Download wallpaper of Jacques Cousteau underwater and deploying a "diving saucer.")

3. Cousteau pioneered underwater base camps.

Jacques Cousteau and his team created the first underwater habitat for humans: Conshelf I, which begat Conshelf II and III. The habitats could house working oceanauts for weeks at a time.

"He was ahead of even the United States Navy, which was doing the same thing in proving people could live and operate underwater for extended periods of time," Merriam said.

Broadly speaking, "it's technology that industry uses now, because it's a lot less expensive to keep someone down there working than to have them down there for 30 minutes and come back up," she said.

4. Cousteau helped restrict commercial whaling.

Cousteau "intervened personally with heads of state and helped get the numbers necessary for the [International Whaling] Commission to pass the moratorium" on commercial whaling in 1986, Merriam said.

The moratorium remains in place today, though some countries still hunt whales in the name of scientific research.

5. Cousteau helped stop underwater dumping of nuclear waste.

Cousteau organized a popular campaign against a French-government plan to dump nuclear waste into the Mediterranean Sea in 1960—and took his fight straight to the president of the republic.

Cousteau "faced off with General de Gualle in France about the proposed dumping, and he continued to oppose nuclear power," Merriam said.

"He acknowledged that it was a clean power source and full of possibilities but felt that—as long as we're dealing with waste that we don't know how to handle—we should not pursue it."

In the end, the train carrying the waste turned back after women and children staged a sit-in on the tracks.

Jacques Cousteau, Late-Blooming Environmentalist

Cousteau's films and books could make the ocean seem like a boundless and bountiful wonderland, bursting with life and blessedly isolated. But the captain himself knew better.

"He thought it was a conceit of humans that the oceans are endless and that we can keep turning to them as an unending source of food and anything else we wanted," Merriam said.

By all accounts, Cousteau was not always an ardent environmentalist, nor was he always particularly sensitive to the creatures he was filming in the beginning. "He started out as a spear fisherman and a world explorer, not a guardian," Merriam said.

Merriam points to a "horrific" scene in The Silent World in which the Calypso collides with a baby sperm whale. Believing the animal to be near death, the crew shoots the animal—then also shoots sharks that attack the now dead whale.

Merriam remembers when The Silent World was remastered about 20 years ago. "Everyone in the organization said we have to cut out these really ugly scenes that show all of this bad behavior."

But "Cousteau said, 'No, no we're not. It was true, and it shows how far we've come and how dreadful humans can be if we don't curtail ourselves,'" she recalled.

Jacques Cousteau Legacy Endures

If Cousteau were alive today, he would probably be saddened by how little has been done to address pollution, overfishing, and other threats to the world's oceans, said Bill Eichbaum, vice president of marine and Arctic policy at World Wildlife Fund (WWF), an international conservation organization.

(Read why Jacques Cousteau would be "heartbroken" at our seas today—commentary by his son Jean-Michel.)

But Cousteau wouldn't be discouraged, said Eichbaum, who worked with Cousteau briefly during the 1970s.

"He would be passionately concerned, and I think, even more articulate and aggressive in urging governments, companies, and individuals to protect the environment," he said.

For her part, the Cousteau Society's Merriam said, "We miss the visionary, and we're glad he set us on the path that we're trying to keep on."

Cousteau's Calypso: a future for the once iconic research vessel?

To the many people who watched or read of the ocean exploits of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, a visible icon of that era was the research vessel Calypso. I know it's white outline, punctuated by scientific toys like the distinctive yellow submarine "saucer," was burned into my memory. I built the Revell model kit, supported the Cousteau Society's occasional efforts at refurbishing it, and watched with sadness as it was eventually eclipsed by its high-tech replacement, the Alcyone. Ultimately, it sat rusting away in a French dry dock after having been rammed and sunk by a barge in Singapore in 1996.

However, according to British news reports in the Independent and BBC News, efforts are underway to resurrect the famed ship, making it once again seaworthy as a touring educational exhibition. Cousteau's widow from a second marriage is involved in the effort and would like the French government to declare the Calypso as part of France's national heritage, making it eligible for public restoration funds. But getting the Calypso, a converted minesweeper, to once again ply the waves will be no small feat, as the years of abuse and neglect have definitely taken their toll.

According to long-time crew member Albert Falco, "Everything which is not rusted is rotten and everything which is not rotten is rusted."

Unfortunately, various controversies have dogged the Calypso and the Cousteau family regarding ownership since Jacques-Yves Cousteau's death in 1997. Hopefully, the passage of time has healed some of those wounds and as we enter the centennial of Cousteau's birth, we can look back on the legacy of his work and how it fired our fascination in the undersea world. Oceanographic science undoubtedly received a public relations boost that helped support further research which built on and refined some of the studies and observations made aboard the Calypso.

Whether that famed vessel can once again make its own wake upon the open sea remains to be seen. But what it has meant to many ocean conservationists - professional or armchair - would seem to justify not seeing the Calypso become a distant memory.

Read the BBC News article.
Read the Independent article.

EarthEcho International: carrying on the Cousteau tradition

There are several terrific non-profit conservation organizations (NGOs) doing good work in the name of ocean conservation. While often involved in many facets of marine issues, each organization tends to focus their energies where their particular expertise can do the most good: political, scientific, education, activism, and so on.

For many of us, our initial exposure to the oceans was through the work of Jacque-Yves Cousteau - his expeditions, films, and books and the organization or marine conservation empire that he built. With his passing, the ocean movement lost a recognizable celebrity figure head and the Cousteau organization slowly devolved into different factions, each with their own skills and accomplishments, but perhaps none as powerful as the original.

EarthEcho International is an environmental media and education non-profit founded by Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau (children of Philippe Cousteau, Sr. and grandchildren of Jacque-Yves Cousteau). In existence for several years, it is slowly coming into its own and beginning to flex its muscle. While involved in efforts to motivate governments to initiate better ocean policies, one of its goals to better educate the general public, in particular the youth, as they will be the next inheritors and caretakers of the planet.

Youth likes its heroes and icons, so keep an eye on Philippe. He is a young face with a famous heritage that could prove to be an important figure in reaching young people worldwide to embrace environmental issues and set new directions in public thinking. EarthEcho International has assembled an interesting group of advocates and educators. Let's wish them well for the future.

Learn more at the EarthEcho International web site.