Thank Goodness It's Monday #297

LET’S GO SEE

WITH THE COUSTEAUS

“Il faut aller voir.” How is your command of the French language?

Mine’s nonexistent. But I do know that the opening phrase in today’s TGIM can be translated “We must go see for ourselves” and was the credo of --

Jacques Cousteau -- the French oceanographer, explorer, filmmaker, environmentalist, inventor, “captain” of the ship Calypso and a hero of mine from my childhood days.

He’s “top of mind” for me today thanks to a weekend celebrating “The Spirit of the Calypso” in, of all places, New Jersey.

Surprise! The Garden State annually hosts “Beneath the Sea” – billed as “the world’s largest dive, travel and oceans exposition.”

I have been a regular attendee there for years. But this year was extra-special as it honored the 100^th year of Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997) naming him as 2011 Legend of the Sea AND his son, Jean-Michel Cousteau as 2011 Diving Pioneer.

I hope you already know much of the Cousteau story:

Co-inventor and principal developer with Emile Gagnan of what we now call SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus), Jacques-Yves Cousteau set divers free to explore the sea that covers more than three-fifths of the earth’s surface.

And he led the way himself. He showed countless people the unseen undersea wonders of The Silent World as he titled his 1956 documentary (made with a young Louis Malle), the first of Cousteau’s three Academy Award winners.

When yet another film failed to line up a theatrical distributor, the footage became a National Geographic television special. That in turn evolved into broadcasting deals that, from 1954 through 1996, brought millions of viewers face to face with sharks, whales, dolphins, walruses, penguins, sea turtles, and other denizens of the deep.

Nature and nurture: Viewers were also enlightened about the man-made pollution that was fouling the oceans and adversely affecting our earth’s environment.

In 1974 the Cousteau Society was founded to increase the awareness among the general public of the diversity and fragility of the undersea world and to help people understand the fundamental importance of the world’s oceans to the fate of the planet.

TGIM TAKEAWAY #1: All through the years Captain Cousteau, in his red wool cap, led the way. His death may have marked the end of an era, but not of his legacy of leadership.

Jean-Michel Cousteau was 8 years old in 1945 when he made his first dive using his father’s newly invented regulator. Since that day he has lived in an underwater world and, having produced over 70 documentary films, he is now one of the senior voices heard in ocean conservation.

Although, for a number of years the father and son were estranged, they had reconciled before the senior Cousteau’s death and Jean-Michel has taken a very public role in advancing the Cousteau environmental legacy.

Here’s a story Jean-Michel once shared about his father as an aging aquanaut. I think it gives insight into both individuals and leads us to another worthy TGIM Takeaway.

The son was leading a team of divers filming in Papua, New Guinea, waters totally unknown to his father (at the time in his late 70’s) who had arrived to join Jean-Michel for a dive.

“It was a special moment for me,” the younger Cousteau said, “to be able to share with him something beautiful, as he had done many times for me.

“But the dive proved remarkable on another level. There was a lot of current, and I could see my father was struggling. He gave it his best effort, but finally, after a time, he signaled to me that he was aborting the dive.

“Back aboard ship, he sat exhausted, barely able to speak. For the first time, my father appeared mortal. I watched for a sign of defeat, fearing that, at last, something had gotten the better of him.

“As he opened his lips to speak, I could almost hear the words I feared: ‘I cannot dive anymore.’

“But instead, there was his usual determination. With a big smile and his eyes sparkling he said, ‘Well, it looks like I’ll have to design equipment for old people!’

“And he did … making it easier for him to breathe and extending his diving career for several more years.”

TGIM TAKEAWAY #2: Words of wisdom from the senior Cousteau: “The happiness of the bee and dolphin is to exist. For man it is to know that and wonder at it.” “I’m not an ecologist for the animals. I’m an ecologist for people.” “We are not documentary. We are adventure films.”

“Allons voir.” Let’s go see.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373

tgimguy@gmail.com   

P.S. “Upstaged by fish. This would have never happened to Papa.” Jean-Michel Cousteau said that, as perhaps your kids know. If you’ve got seven minutes, check his amusing and informative performance with his animated friends Dory and Marlin and Nemo HERE at the Ocean Futures Society. (Kid-in-all-of-us alert: Nemo and friends appear about one minute in.)