Merfolk #2

My second person to attain the "Merfolk" title is probably the obvious choice, Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Now, I knew he was something to do with the sea, but my knowledge extended as far as that episode of Friends where Pheobe yells, "I love Jacques Cousteau!" After some digging, I have found out he has done basically everything! So without further waffle...

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Photo from Smithosian Magazine

Lived: Paris, France (or aboard Calypso)

Era: 20th Century

Life Span: 1910-1997

Occupation: Oceanographer, Filmmaker, Naval Officer

Like I said before, there is very little Jacque Cousteau has not done. He has made over 120 documentaries for film and television. He has written over 50 books. He has created an environmental protection foundation which is still going string twenty years after his death with over 50,000 members. But that is the short version. This man packed a lot of life into his 87 years. In my notes, I feel like I have bearly scratched the surface - I ran out of space before he'd left the navy!

He joined the École Navale at the age of 20, where he graduated as a gunnery officer. His career would have been drastically different for his goal was to be a pilot, but a car accident which should have killed him made this not possible. Instead, he explored his love for the sea. During his nineteen years in the navy, he made a number of films; the first of which was filmed with no breathing apparatus. In 1943, there was no SCUBA gear and what breathing apparatus there was only allowed short intervals under the water. Even so, he filmed Par dix-huit mètres de fond (18 metres under the sea).

He followed this film with Épaves (Shipwrecks) which was filmed used breathing apparatus he'd developed with Émile Gangnan. They developed the first Aqua-Lung and over the 1940s improved it for better and longer use under the water. The Aqua-Lung is an open circuit, self contained underwater breathing apparatus. This is where the term SCUBA comes from. They invented this so that they could better explore underwater for Cousteau's films. It was through his documentaries that Cousteau was offered the chance to set up the Groupement de Reserches Sous-marine (GRS) by a commanding officer. This submarinous research programme has developed over the years into CEPHISMER, a naval group whose aim is to develop SCUBA practises. This would be the first of many groups Cousteau would found.

It was through this organisation, he participated in the first underwater archeological operation with autonomous diving, meaning they had the freedom to control the expedition. They explored the Roman shipwreck of Mahdia which is believed to have sunk in 80BC, or possibly even later. The success of this operation opened up scientific underwater archeology as a practise.

In 1949, he left the navy and founded the French Oceanographic Campaign (FOC) a year later. He conducted his work aboard his ship, Calypso, which was his mobile lab and princple filming and diving vessel. Here he conducted research and archeological excavations. It was during this time he developed the SP-350 "diving saucer", which was designed to hold two people and dive to greater depths than man can achieve on his own. The first model went down to 350m (1148.29ft) and was a great success. So much so, over the years he developed his diving saucer into models which could go deeper. This culminated in the SP-350 Denise, who could go as deep as 400m (1,300 ft) and was regarded as the best vehicle for underwater exploration. 

Some of the archeological work he did was for the Oceonagraphical Museum of Monaco, and in 1957 he was elected their director. The Museum holds exhibitions of sea fauna in a variety of species as well as sea related objects, from ship tools to sea animal skeletons. Shortly after this, he was a founding member of the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques and served as the inaugural president. The CMAS is an international federation representing activities in underwater sport, sciences, and oversees recreational snorkel and SCUBA diving. From what I can tell, without him SCUBA diving would not be what it is today.

As well as developing our ability to explore under the waves, Jacques Cousteau actively tried to protect it. A governing body were going to dump radioactive waste into the sea, arguing there wasn't a strong current so disperal would be minimal. In just two weeks of hearing this, Cousteau garnered enough public support to get the action over turned. His campaign was so successful that people were waiting on train tracks to intercept the vessel carrying the waste and turn it around. 

In the sixties, he found fame on American television. As well as being a regular guest on reality show Those Amazing Animals, he had two shows of his own. The first was in the style of a personalised documentary called The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau which ran from 1966 to 1976 on national television stations. His second show was The Cousteau Odyssey which ran from 1977 to 1982 on public television stations. 

During this, he still found time to explore Deception Island, only two years after its last erruption, and create The Cousteau Society. This society for was the protection of ocean life; a non-profit organisation with the aim of helping the world understand our seas through expeditions and research. This society is still going today and is headed by Cousteau's second wife Francine Cousteau. He uncovered the wreck of the HMHS Britannic, which was a fleet mate of the Titanic and sank in 1916 by a naval mine exploding. He used SP-350 Denise on this expedition. He also recovered the 17th Century French war ship, La Thérèse, which sunk in June 1669. 

All this work Cousteau did was recognised by awarding parties. With Peter Scott, he recieved the UN International Environmental prize in 1977. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then President of USA Ronald Reagan, in 1985. He also recieved many awards for his films, including the Palm D'Or from the Cannes Festival. Not surprising really, considering just how much this man contributed to the world of marine biology, diving, and conservation.

There was tragedy in his life. He lost his second eldest son and designated successor in 1969 due to a boat accident. And his first wife died of cancer in 1990. He remarried in 1991 to a woman with whom he'd had a long standing affair - children included. This put a strain on the relationship he had with his eldest son. He would eventually go on to sue this son for trying to use the Cousteau name for a for-profit business, a battle the son lost. He even lost Calypso in 1996 when it was accidentally rammed and sunk. There is a happy end for this story though, for it was recovered and is now trying to be converted into a museum. There is even a Calypso II being built.

Jacques Cousteau was active right up until his death in 1997. He was elected into the Académie francaise in 1988, was an active figure in news and media, and was even a consultant for the UN and World Bank. He died two weeks after his 87th birthday of a heart attack. The Cousteau Society was taken over by his widow and companies, like the International Watch Company, still financially support the foundation with special edition items honouring Cousteau and his work. 

Photo from The Cousteau Society

Fun Facts:

• Cousteau spent some of his youth in America, as well as in his later years. As a result, he was fluent in English which proved useful in WW2 as he helped the French Navy find the US Allies.
• He leased his ship, Calypso, for the symbollic price of one franc a year.
• In one of his first books, he correctly predicted that porpoises use echo location.
• In the 1960s, he researched building underwater "villages" and the effects of living underwater long term.
• John Denver wrote a tribute song to him called Calypso. Listen to it, it's a bop.  

I am going to leave you with a quote of his. Apparently his views on population control are widely quoted across the internet, but I prefer this one: 

The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat.