Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910-1997) would have turned 100 yesterday. I recently watched one of Cousteau's documentaries on the lost city of Atlantis. It was made in the 1970's, and through my twenty-first century eyes, looked almost parodic...except for the fact that I watched this same special in black and white on a tiny box with knobs in the actual 70's (cough). Cousteau was talking to Greek archeologists who were putting together pieces of the Minoan puzzle, a bronze-age civilization centered on the Greek island of Crete. Cousteau's obvious excitement at the literal drawers full of fragments, layered one on top of the other, was...well, adorable. And so was his ever-present red knit cap.
But Jacques Cousteau was so much more than a parody a la Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Steve Zissou was Cousteau-esque, played well by Bill Murray). But like most visionaries, Cousteau was often not taken as seriously as he deserved.
Cousteau made over 120 television documentaries, bringing the underwater world to those of us above. He also wrote 50 books, the first of which was published in 1953, The Silent World, where he theorized about echolocation's uses amongst porpoises. Cousteau was a pioneer in not only some of the first underwater filmmaking, but in the development of underwater breathing apparatus as well. Not to mention his passion for oceanic conservation; the Cousteau Society (created in 1973) has over 300,000 members worldwide. Hopefully, wherever Cousteau is now, he doesn't know about the BP oil disaster in the Gulf....
Cousteau's life wasn't all about the oceans though. He had a family, two actually. He married his first wife, Simone, in 1937 and had two sons Jean-Michel and Philippe. Though both boys were part of Cousteau's adventures aboard the infamous Calypso, Philippe was Cousteau's favorite in that Philippe shared Cousteau's passion and talents. Sadly, Philippe died in a tragic boating accident in 1973. A year before Cousteau's death, Cousteau sued his son, Jean-Michel, for attempting to open a resort in Fiji using the name "Cousteau." Cousteau's wife Simone died after battling cancer in 1990. In 1991, Cousteau married again. Cousteau and his second wife, now the head of the Cousteau Foundation and Cousteau Society, had had two children together almost a decade before...oops. Yes, Cousteau was human. But that didn't go over too well with his oldest son, Jean-Michel. And in fairness, who wouldn't be furious to learn that a beloved father not only had an extra-marital affair, but also had an entire second family...tough stuff.
Despite Cousteau's very human flaws, he was a remarkable man--a true oceanic embassador. It was through Cousteau's crazy adventures on TV called, "The Underwater Odyssey of Commander Cousteau," that I first started my own love affair with the ocean and her creatures. I passed that on to my family as well--who is fond of quoting the Disney movie, Finding Nemo, when someone asks about oceanic edibles: "Fish are friends...."
Cousteau believed that aquariums and marine parks were cruel to the animals who lived there. Though I have visited aquariums across the globe, I always sense a tremendous sadness, especially from the larger marine mammals. Giant tanks only seem giant to the humans outside of them--there's nothing that can be made so large as to emulate the ocean herself. And it is this industrious, industrial greed, the same greed that claims to be helping to "protect" marine life through aquarium initiatives, that most concerned Cousteau.
Cousteau believed that man was the earth's biggest enemy and that humanity had caused more damage to the earth in the 20th century than in all the previous centuries combined. Again, hopefully, Cousteau is unaware of the BP disaster in the Gulf, because this particular disaster may even trump Cousteau's cursed 20th century...and we're only a decade in. Cousteau, a believer in population control, was quoted as saying, "If we go on the way we have, the fault is our greed. And if we are not willing to change, we will disappear from the face of the golobe, to be replaced by the insect." I don't know about you, but I tend to agree....
But while Cousteau was down on man in many ways, and in no better way can one study man's downfalls then from the oceans, Cousteau was also hopeful about the future. He believed that faith and hope, along with hard work, could correct the problems made at the hands of humanity. So with that same faith and hope, we continue moving forward.
Until next time, dearest readers....