Jacques Cousteau

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Cousteau was born on 11 June 1910, in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde, France, to Daniel and Élisabeth Cousteau. He had one brother, Pierre-Antoine. Cousteau completed his preparatory studies at the Collège Stanislas in Paris. In 1930, he entered the École navale and graduated as a gunnery officer. However, an automobile accident, which broke both his arms, cut short his career in naval aviation. The accident forced Cousteau to change his plans to become a naval pilot, so he then indulged his passion for the ocean.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jacques-Cousteau|title=Jacques Cousteau {{!}} French ocean explorer and engineer|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2 March 2016|archive-date=25 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825232428/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jacques-Cousteau|url-status=live}}

In Toulon, where he was serving on the Condorcet, Cousteau carried out his first underwater experiments, thanks to his friend Philippe Tailliez who in 1936 lent him some Fernez underwater goggles, predecessors of modern swimming goggles. Cousteau also belonged to the information service of the French Navy, and was sent on missions to Shanghai and Japan (1935–1938) and in the USSR (1939).{{Cite web |title=Jacques Cousteau {{!}} Biography, Quotes, Books, WordCloud, Life History Timeline {{!}}Minds of Science |url=https://www.mindsofscience.com/scientist?name=Jacques_Cousteau |access-date=19 July 2022 |website=www.mindsofscience.com |archive-date=12 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212121908/https://www.mindsofscience.com/scientist/?name=Jacques_Cousteau |url-status=usurped }}

On 12 July 1937, he married Simone Melchior, his business partner,{{cite news |last1=Lunn |first1=Rosemary E. |title=WDHOF announces new Simone Melchior Cousteau Grant |url=https://xray-mag.com/content/wdhof-announces-new-grant |access-date=28 July 2021 |work=X-Ray International Dive Magazine |date=8 March 2021 |language=en |archive-date=28 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728141611/https://xray-mag.com/content/wdhof-announces-new-grant |url-status=dead }} with whom he had two sons, Jean-Michel (born 1938) and Philippe (1940–1979). His sons took part in the adventures of the Calypso. In 1991, six months after his wife Simone's death from cancer, he married Francine Triplet. They already had a daughter Diane Cousteau (born 1980) and a son, Pierre-Yves Cousteau (born 1982, during Cousteau's marriage to his first wife).

The years of World War II were decisive for the history of diving. After the armistice of 1940, the family of Simone and Jacques-Yves Cousteau took refuge in Megève, where he became a friend of the Ichac family who also lived there. Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Marcel Ichac shared the same desire to reveal to the general public unknown and inaccessible places—for Cousteau the underwater world and for Ichac the high mountains. The two neighbors took the first ex-aequo prize of the Congress of Documentary Film in 1943, for the first French underwater film: Par dix-huit mètres de fond (18 meters deep), made without breathing apparatus the previous year in the Embiez islands in Var, with Philippe Tailliez and Frédéric Dumas, using a depth-pressure-proof camera case developed by mechanical engineer Léon Vèche, an engineer of Arts and Measures at the Naval College.

In 1943, they made the film Épaves (Shipwrecks), in which they used two of the very first Aqua-Lung prototypes. These prototypes were made in Boulogne-Billancourt by the Air Liquide company, following instructions from Cousteau and Émile Gagnan.{{cite web|url=http://www.espalion-12.com/scaphandre/autonomie/scaphandre_autonome.htm |title=le Scaphandre Autonome |publisher=Espalion-12.com |access-date=10 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030022352/http://www.espalion-12.com/scaphandre/autonomie/scaphandre_autonome.htm |archive-date=30 October 2012}}

Having kept bonds with the English speakers (he spent part of his childhood in the United States and usually spoke English) and with French soldiers in North Africa (under Admiral Lemonnier), Jacques-Yves Cousteau (whose villa "Baobab" at Sanary (Var) was opposite Admiral Darlan's villa "Reine"), helped the French Navy to join again with the Allies; he assembled a commando operation against the Italian espionage services in France, and received several military decorations for his deeds. At that time, he kept his distance from his brother Pierre-Antoine Cousteau, a "pen anti-semite" who edited the collaborationist newspaper Je suis partout (I am everywhere) and who received the death sentence in 1946. However, this was later commuted to a life sentence, and Pierre-Antoine was released in 1954.

During the 1940s, Cousteau is credited with improving the Aqua-Lung design which gave birth to the open-circuit scuba technology used today. According to his first book, The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure (1953), Cousteau started diving with Fernez goggles in 1936, and in 1939 used the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus invented in 1926 by Commander Yves le Prieur.The Silent World. J. Y. Cousteau with Frédéric Dumas. Hamish Hamilton, London. 1953 Cousteau was not satisfied with the length of time he could spend underwater with the Le Prieur apparatus so he improved it to extend underwater duration by adding a demand regulator, invented in 1942 by Émile Gagnan. In 1943 Cousteau tried out the first prototype Aqua-Lung which finally made extended underwater exploration possible.

In 1946, Cousteau and Tailliez showed the film Épaves ("Shipwrecks") to Admiral Lemonnier, who gave them the responsibility of setting up the GRS (Groupement de Recherches Sous-marines, Underwater Research Group) of the French Navy in Toulon. A little later it became the GERS (Groupe d'Études et de Recherches Sous-Marines, Underwater Studies and Research Group), then the COMISMER (Commandement des Interventions Sous la Mer, Undersea Interventions Command), and finally the CEPHISMER (Centre Expert Plongée Humaine et Intervention Sous la Mer, Expert Centre for Human Diving and Undersea Intervention). In 1947, Chief Petty Officer Maurice Fargues became the first diver to die using an Aqua-Lung, while attempting a new depth record to 120 m with the GERS near Toulon.{{cite book |first=Tim |last=Ecott |title=Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World |publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press |location=New York City |year=2001 |isbn=0-87113-794-1 |lccn=2001018840 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/neutralbuoyancy00time_0 }}

File:Jacques-Yves Cousteau Les Mousquemers 1948.jpg

In 1948, between missions of mine clearance, underwater exploration and technological and physiological tests, Cousteau undertook a first campaign in the Mediterranean on board the sloop Élie Monnier,{{cite web|author=Sevellec, E.J.|url=http://www.philippe.tailliez.net/article30.html|title=Naissance du GERS et des premiers plongeurs démineurs|date=1 December 2006|access-date=18 February 2010|language=fr|publisher=Philippe.tailliez.net|archive-date=16 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816121909/http://www.philippe.tailliez.net/article30.html|url-status=live}} According to Sevellec, the Élie Monnier was an old German tugboat originally called Albatros and handed over to France as a war reparation, and then re-baptised in honor of the maritime engineer Élie Monnier who had disappeared while diving at Mers-el-Kébir on the wreck of the battleship Bretagne{{cite book|author=Riffaud, C.|url=http://users.skynet.be/pascalc/news/plg1940.html|title="La règne du scaphandre à casque", in La grande aventure des hommes sous la mer|year=1988|isbn=2-226-03502-8|publisher=Users.skynet.be|access-date=10 November 2012|archive-date=22 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022064532/http://users.skynet.be/pascalc/news/plg1940.html|url-status=dead}} with Philippe Tailliez, Frédéric Dumas, Jean Alinat and the scenario writer Marcel Ichac. The small team also undertook the exploration of the Roman wreck of Mahdia (Tunisia). It was the first underwater archaeology operation using autonomous diving, opening the way for scientific underwater archaeology. Cousteau and Marcel Ichac brought back from there the Carnets diving film (presented and preceded with the Cannes Film Festival 1951).

Cousteau and the Élie Monnier then took part in the rescue of Professor Jacques Piccard's bathyscaphe, the FNRS-2, during the 1949 expedition to Dakar. Thanks to this rescue, the French Navy was able to reuse the sphere of the bathyscaphe to construct the FNRS-3.

The adventures of this period are told in the two books The Silent World (1953, by Cousteau and Dumas) and Plongées sans câble (1954, by Philippe Tailliez).

In 1949, Cousteau left the French Navy.

In 1950, he founded the French Oceanographic Campaigns (FOC), and leased a ship called Calypso from Thomas Loel Guinness for a symbolic one franc a year. Cousteau refitted the Calypso as a mobile laboratory for field research and as his principal vessel for diving and filming. He also carried out underwater archaeological excavations in the Mediterranean, in particular at Grand-Congloué (1952).

With the publication of his first book in 1953, The Silent World, Cousteau correctly predicted the existence of the echolocation abilities of porpoises. He reported that his research vessel, the Élie Monier, was heading to the Straits of Gibraltar and noticed a group of porpoises following them. Cousteau changed course a few degrees off the optimal course to the center of the strait, and the porpoises followed for a few minutes, then diverged toward mid-channel again. It was evident that they knew where the optimal course lay, even if the humans did not. Cousteau concluded that the cetaceans had something like sonar, which was a relatively new feature on submarines.

In 1954, Cousteau conducted a survey of Abu Dhabi waters on behalf of British Petroleum. Among those accompanying him was Louis Malle who made a black-and-white film of the expedition for the company.{{cite journal|last1=Morton|first1=Michael Quentin|title=Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau's Undersea Survey of 1954|journal=Liwa|date=June 2015|volume=5|issue=9|pages=3–28|url=https://www.academia.edu/13056568|access-date=17 August 2016|archive-date=26 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426051607/https://www.academia.edu/13056568|url-status=live}} Cousteau won the {{Lang|fr|Palme d'Or|italic=no}} at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956 for The Silent World co-produced with Malle. In 1957, Cousteau took over as leader of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. Afterward, with the assistance of Jean Mollard, he made a "diving saucer" SP-350, an experimental underwater vehicle which could reach a depth of 350 meters. The successful experiment was quickly repeated in 1965 with two vehicles which reached 500 meters.

In 1957, he was elected as director of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. He directed Précontinent, about the experiments of diving in saturation (long-duration immersion, houses under the sea), and was admitted to the United States National Academy of Sciences.

He was involved in the creation of Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques and served as its inaugural president from 1959 to 1973.{{cite web|title=Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1959–1973)|url=http://history.cmas.org/jacques-yves-cousteau-1959-1973-130328095802|publisher=Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques|access-date=2 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603002152/http://history.cmas.org/jacques-yves-cousteau-1959-1973-130328095802|archive-date=3 June 2015|url-status=dead}}

Cousteau also took part in inventing the "SP-350 Denise Diving Saucer" in 1959 which was an invention best for exploring the ocean floor, as it allowed one to explore on solid ground.

In October 1960, a large amount of radioactive waste was going to be discarded in the Mediterranean Sea by the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA). The CEA argued that the dumps were experimental in nature, and that French oceanographers such as Vsevolod Romanovsky had recommended it. Romanovsky and other French scientists, including Louis Fage and Jacques Cousteau, repudiated the claim, saying that Romanovsky had in mind a much smaller amount. The CEA claimed that there was little circulation (and hence little need for concern) at the dump site between Nice and Corsica, but French public opinion sided with the oceanographers rather than with the CEA atomic energy scientists. The CEA chief, Francis Perrin, decided to postpone the dump.{{cite book | url=https://jacobdarwinhamblin.com/books/poison-in-the-well/ | title=Poison in the Well: Radioactive Waste in the Oceans at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age | publisher=Rutgers University Press | author=Hamblin, Jacob Darwin | year=2008 | location=Piscataway, NJ | isbn=978-0813542201 |access-date=14 December 2018 }} Cousteau organized a publicity campaign which in less than two weeks gained wide popular support. The train carrying the waste was stopped by women and children sitting on the railway tracks, and it was sent back to its origin.

File:Cousteau en Calypso.jpg

In the 1960s, Cousteau was involved with a set of three projects to build underwater "villages"; the projects were named Precontinent I, Precontinent II and Precontinent III. Each ensuing project was aimed at increasing the depth at which people continuously lived under water, and were an attempt at creating an environment in which men could live and work on the sea floor. The projects are best known as Conshelf I (1962), Conshelf II (1963), and Conshelf III (1965). The names "Precontinent", and "Continental Shelf Station" (Conshelf) were used interchangeably by Cousteau.

A meeting with American television companies (ABC, Métromédia, NBC) created the series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, with the character of the commander in the red bonnet inherited from standard diving dress intended to give the films a "personalized adventure" style. This documentary television series ran for 10 years from 1966 to 1976. A second documentary series, The Cousteau Odyssey, ran from 1977 to 1982 on public television stations.

In 1970, he wrote the book The Shark: Splendid Savage of the Sea with his son Philippe. In this book, Cousteau described the oceanic whitetip shark as "the most dangerous of all sharks".

In December 1972, two years after the volcano's last eruption, The Cousteau Society was filming Voyage au bout du monde on Deception Island, Antarctica, when Michel Laval, Calypso{{'}}s second in command, was struck and killed by a rotor of the helicopter that was ferrying between Calypso and the island.{{cite news|title=Accident kills Cousteau aide in Argentina (30 December 1972)|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1972/12/30/page/30/article/accident-kills-cousteau-aide-in-argentina|access-date=4 December 2016|agency=Chicago Tribune|archive-date=3 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703235644/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1972/12/30/page/30/article/accident-kills-cousteau-aide-in-argentina/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Hero and Calypso at Deception Island 1972–73|url=http://www.palmerstation.com/history/6575/calypso.html|website=www.palmerstation.com|access-date=4 December 2016|archive-date=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025174154/http://www.palmerstation.com/history/6575/calypso.html|url-status=live}}

In 1973, along with his two sons and Frederick Hyman, he created the Cousteau Society for the Protection of Ocean Life, Frederick Hyman being its first President.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

In 1975, John Denver released the tribute song "Calypso" on his album Windsong, and on the B-side of his hit song "I'm Sorry". "Calypso" became a hit on its own and was later considered the new A-side, reaching No. 2 on the charts.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

File:Jaques Yvez Cousteau Ramon Bravo PBY catalina calypsoII 1976.jpg in 1976]]

In 1976, Cousteau located the wreck of HMHS Britannic, which had sunk on 21 November 1916 after striking a mine in the Kea Channel, the third and final of the three {{sclass|Olympic|ocean liner|0}} liners and the younger sister to the RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} He also found the wreck of the French 17th-century ship-of-the-line La Therese in coastal waters of Crete.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

In 1977, together with Peter Scott, he received the UN International Pahlavi Environment prize.{{cite web|title=

Secretary-General awards International Pahlavi Environment Prize for 1977 to Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Sir Peter Scott | url = https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4007366}}

On 28 June 1979, while the Calypso was on an expedition to Portugal, his second son Philippe, his preferred and designated successor and with whom he had co-produced all his films since 1969, died in a PBY Catalina flying boat crash in the Tagus River near Lisbon. Cousteau was deeply affected. He called his eldest son, the architect Jean-Michel, to his side. This collaboration lasted 14 years.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

From 1980 to 1981, he was a regular on the animal reality show Those Amazing Animals, along with Burgess Meredith, Priscilla Presley, and Jim Stafford.

File:Flying-saucer.jpg]]

In 1980, Cousteau traveled to Canada to make two films on the Saint Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, Cries from the Deep and St. Lawrence: Stairway to the Sea.{{cite web|url=http://blog.nfb.ca/2009/10/23/jacques-cousteau-in-canada/|title=When Cousteau Came to Canada|last=Ohayon|first=Albert|year=2009|work=NFB.ca|publisher=National Film Board of Canada|access-date=25 October 2009|archive-date=6 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706190601/http://blog.nfb.ca/2009/10/23/jacques-cousteau-in-canada/|url-status=live}}

From 1982 to 1984, Cousteau released a series of films on the Amazon with TBS.{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/25/arts/new-cable-fare-gets-double-exposure.html | title=New Cable Fare Gets Double Exposure | work=The New York Times | date=25 March 1984 | last1=Knoll | first1=Steve Knollby Steve }}

In 1985, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Ronald Reagan. He also released Cousteau/Mississippi, which won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Special.{{cite web | url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/cousteau-mississippi | title=Cousteau: Mississippi }}

From 1986 to 1992, Cousteau released Rediscovery of the World, also with TBS.

On 24 November 1988, he was elected to the Académie française, chair 17, succeeding Jean Delay. His official reception under the cupola took place on 22 June 1989, the response to his speech of reception being given by Bertrand Poirot-Delpech. After his death, he was replaced by Érik Orsenna on 28 May 1998.

In June 1990, the composer Jean Michel Jarre paid homage to the commander by entitling his new album Waiting for Cousteau. He also composed the music for Cousteau's documentary "Palawan, the last refuge".

On 2 December 1990, his wife, Simone Cousteau died of cancer. Six months later, in June 1991, in Paris, Jacques-Yves Cousteau remarried to Francine Triplet, with whom he had a relationship since the early 1980s and two children, Diane (born in 1980) and Pierre-Yves (born in 1982). Francine Cousteau currently continues her husband's work as the head of the Cousteau Foundation and Cousteau Society. From that point, the relations between Jacques-Yves and his elder son, who is 8 years older than Francine, worsened.

In November 1991, Cousteau gave an interview to the UNESCO Courier, in which he stated that he was in favour of human population control and population decrease. Widely quoted on the Internet are these two paragraphs from the interview: "What should we do to eliminate suffering and disease? It's a wonderful idea but perhaps not altogether a beneficial one in the long run. If we try to implement it we may jeopardize the future of our species...It's terrible to have to say this. World population must be stabilized and to do that we must eliminate 350,000 people per day. This is so horrible to contemplate that we shouldn't even say it. But the general situation in which we are involved is lamentable".{{cite web |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-9245762_ITM |title=Article: Jacques-Yves Cousteau. (Interview) | AccessMyLibrary – Promoting library advocacy |publisher=AccessMyLibrary |date=1 November 1991 |access-date=10 November 2012 |archive-date=19 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019194456/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-9245762_ITM |url-status=live }}

In 1992, he was invited to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the United Nations' International Conference on Environment and Development, and then he became a regular consultant for the UN and the World Bank.

In 1993, a brief biography, as well as an introduction by Cousteau was featured in interactive educational software program Undersea Adventure, developed by former game developer Knowledge Adventure.

In 1995, Cousteau became involved in a legal battle with his son Jean-Michel, who was advertising the "Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort" in the South Pacific, to prevent him from using the Cousteau name for business purposes in the United States.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/22/world/cousteau-s-son-blocked-from-using-name.html |date=22 December 1995 |title=Cousteau's Son Blocked From Using Name |work=The New York Times |access-date=26 November 2019}} This resulted in Jean-Michel Cousteau being ordered by the court to not encourage confusion between his for-profit business and his father's non-profit endeavours.

On 11 January 1996, Calypso was rammed and sunk in the port of Singapore by a barge. The Calypso was refloated and towed home to France.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cousteau.org/legacy/vessels/calypso/|title=Calypso|access-date=13 April 2021|archive-date=13 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413193503/https://www.cousteau.org/legacy/vessels/calypso/|url-status=live}}

Archbishop Jean-Marie Lustiger celebrated his funeral Mass at Notre-Dame in Paris. In his homily he stated, "Without betraying any confidences, Father Carré told me of his respect for Jacques-Yves Cousteau. He discovered in him a man of prayer whom he accompanied in his last months of his life, giving him, through the sacraments of the Church, the strength of his passage towards eternity."{{cite web | url=https://www.academie-francaise.fr/homelie-prononcee-lors-des-obseques-de-m-jacques-yves-cousteau-en-la-cathedrale-notre-dame-de-paris | title=Homélie prononcée lors des obsèques de M. Jacques-Yves Cousteau, en la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris | Académie française | access-date=11 August 2023 | archive-date=11 August 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811164444/https://www.academie-francaise.fr/homelie-prononcee-lors-des-obseques-de-m-jacques-yves-cousteau-en-la-cathedrale-notre-dame-de-paris | url-status=live }}

In a chapter entitled "The Holy Scriptures and the Environment" in the posthumous work The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus, he is quoted as stating that "The glory of nature provides evidence that God exists".Cousteau, Jacques; ed. by Schiefelbein, Susan. 2010. [https://books.google.com/books?id=5JAUkrhPJQIC The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus: Exploring and Conserving Our Natural World]. Bloomsbury Publishing. {{ISBN|9781596917552}}

Cousteau said that just because fish are cold-blooded does not mean they do not feel pain, and that recreational fishermen only say so to reassure their conscience.{{cite book |last=Cousteau |first=Jacques |date=1985 |title=The Ocean World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HKtQgAACAAJ |location=New York |publisher=Harry N. Abrams |page=383 |isbn=9780810980686 |access-date=21 March 2023 |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406213800/https://books.google.com/books?id=9HKtQgAACAAJ |url-status=live }}

Jacques-Yves Cousteau died of a heart attack on 25 June 1997 in Paris, two weeks after his 87th birthday. He was buried in the family vault at Saint-André-de-Cubzac, his birthplace.{{cite web |url=http://atheisme.free.fr/Votre_espace/Temoignage_conversion_cousteau_islam.htm |title=La "conversion" du commandant Cousteau à l'Islam |publisher=Atheisme.free.fr |access-date=10 November 2012 |archive-date=22 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022011354/http://atheisme.free.fr/Votre_espace/Temoignage_conversion_cousteau_islam.htm |url-status=live }} An homage was paid to him by the town by naming the street which runs out to the house of his birth "rue du Commandant Cousteau", where a commemorative plaque was placed.

File:Подводная лодка Жака Ива Кусто IMG 4571.JPG

Cousteau's legacy includes more than 120 television documentaries, more than 50 books, and an environmental protection foundation with 300,000 members.

Cousteau liked to call himself an "oceanographic technician". He was, in reality, a sophisticated showman, teacher, and lover of nature. His work permitted many people to explore the resources of the oceans.

His work also created a new kind of scientific communication, criticized at the time by some academics. The so-called "divulgationism", a simple way of sharing scientific concepts, was soon employed in other disciplines and became one of the most important characteristics of modern television broadcasting.

His Oceanographic Museum in Monaco, and perhaps even he himself,{{cite news |last1=Davidson |first1=Nick |title=Deep Sea Invasion |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/algae/about.html |access-date=23 February 2021 |work=PBS |publisher=Nova |date=1 April 2003 |archive-date=1 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401131330/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/algae/about.html |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Meinesz |first1=Alexandre |title=Killer Algae |date=1999 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |isbn=0226519228 |edition=1st |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/99/12/12/reviews/991212.12flannet.html |access-date=23 February 2021}} has been identified as introducing the "Killer Algae" Caulerpa taxifolia, which are negatively affecting the Mediterranean's ecosystem.

The Cousteau Society and its French counterpart, l'Équipe Cousteau, both of which Jacques-Yves Cousteau founded, are still active today. The Society is currently attempting to turn the original Calypso into a museum and it is raising funds to build a successor vessel, the Calypso II.

In 2007, the International Watch Company introduced the IWC Aquatimer Chronograph "Cousteau Divers" Special Edition. The timepiece incorporated a sliver of wood from the interior of Cousteau's Calypso research vessel. Having developed the diver's watch, IWC offered support to The Cousteau Society. The proceeds from the timepieces' sales were partially donated to the non-profit organization involved in conservation of marine life and preservation of tropical coral reefs.{{cite web |url=http://watches.infoniac.com/index.php?page=articles&catid=4&id=2 |title=Diver's Watch Bearing a Piece of Cousteau's Legendary Vessel Watches Channel |publisher=Watches.infoniac.com |date=27 July 2007 |access-date=10 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002123533/http://watches.infoniac.com/index.php?page=articles&catid=4&id=2 |archive-date=2 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}

Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of Jacques Cousteau, is in the process of constructing a community of ocean flooring analysis stations, called Proteus, off Curaçao at a depth of about 20 m in a marine-protected area. Aquanauts could reside and work in these underwater habitats. Front-end engineering has started in 2022 with the habitat planned for the sea bottom in 2025.{{cite web | last=Palumbo | first=Jacqui | title=Fabien Cousteau and Yves Béhar unveil designs for Proteus, an underwater 'space station' and habitat – CNN Style | website=CNN | date=22 July 2020 | url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/proteus-designs-underwater-space-station-research-center-scn/index.html | access-date=7 March 2022 | archive-date=7 March 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307161533/https://www.cnn.com/style/article/proteus-designs-underwater-space-station-research-center-scn/index.html | url-status=live }}

In October 1997, an underwater plaque honoring Jacques Cousteau was placed in the underwater dive park off Casino Point in Avalon, California. Because of deterioration, In November 2020 the plaque was replaced.{{cite web |last1=Ted |first1=Apodoca |title=Cousteau Tribute gets needed upgrade |url=https://thecatalinaislander.com/cousteau-tribute-gets-needed-upgrade/ |website=The Catalina Islander |date=27 November 2020 |access-date=5 August 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Mulder |first1=Bo |last2=Berry |first2=Matt |title=Jaque Cousteau Memorial Plaque |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/fotobo25/albums/72157632692723920/ |website=Flickr|date=4 February 2013 }}

File:JFKWHP-KN-C17578.jpg

During his lifetime, Jacques-Yves Cousteau received these distinctions:

• Cross of War 1939–1945 (1945)
• National Geographic Society's Special Gold Medal in 1961{{cite web|url=http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/06/jacques-cousteau-would-be-hear.html |date=11 June 2010 |author=Jean-Michel Cousteau |title=Jacques Cousteau "would be heartbroken" at our seas today |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614064316/http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/06/jacques-cousteau-would-be-hear.html |archive-date=14 June 2010 |access-date=12 September 2013}}
• Commander of the Legion of Honour (1972)
• BAFTA Fellowship (1975)
• Officer of the Order of Maritime Merit (1980)
• Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (1985)
• U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom (1985)
• Induction into the Television Hall of Fame (1987)
• Elected to the Académie Française (1988)
• Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters
• Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia (26 January 1990){{cite web |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/878276 |title=It's an Honour – Honours – Search Australian Honours |publisher=Itsanhonour.gov.au |date=26 January 1990 |access-date=10 November 2012 |archive-date=25 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325034615/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/878276 |url-status=live }}

{{More citations needed|section|date=July 2020|talk=Filmography sources}}

{{notelist-ua}}

{{refbegin}}

{{Plainlist |indent=1.2 |

• S – short film
• F – full-length film
• – length of the film is about 45 minutes

}}

{{refend}}

• The Silent World (1953, with Frédéric Dumas)
• Captain Cousteaus Underwater Treasury (1959, with James Dugan)
• The Living Sea (1963, with James Dugan)
• World Without Sun (1965)
• The Undersea Discoveries of Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1970–1975, 8-volumes, with Philippe Diolé)
• The Shark: Splendid Savage of the Sea (1970)
• Diving for Sunken Treasure (1971)
• Life and Death in a Coral Sea (1971)
• The Whale: Mighty Monarch of the Sea (1972)
• Octopus and Squid: The Soft Intelligence (1973)
• Three Adventures: Galápagos, Titicaca, the Blue Holes (1973)
• Diving Companions: Sea Lion, Elephant Seal, Walrus (1974)
• Dolphins (1975)
• The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau (1973–78, 21 volumes)
• Oasis in Space (vol 1)
• The Act of Life (vol 2)
• Quest for Food (vol 3)
• Window in the Sea (vol 4)
• The Art of Motion (vol 5)
• Attack and Defense (vol 6)
• Invisible Messages (vol 7)
• Instinct and Intelligence (vol 8)
• Pharaohs of the Sea (vol 9)
• Mammals in the Sea (vol 10)
• Provinces of the Sea (vol 11)
• Man Re-Enters Sea (vol 12)
• A Sea of Legends (vol 13)
• Adventure of Life (vol 14)
• Outer and Inner Space (vol 15)
• The Whitecaps (vol 16)
• Riches of the Sea (vol 17)
• Challenges of the Sea (vol 18)
• The Sea in Danger (vol 19)
• Guide to the Sea and Index (vol 20)
• Calypso (1978, vol 21)
• A Bill of Rights for Future Generations (1979)
• Life at the Bottom of the World (1980)
• The Cousteau United States Almanac of the Environment (1981, a.k.a. The Cousteau Almanac of the Environment: An Inventory of Life on a Water Planet)
• Jacques Cousteau's Calypso (1983, with Alexis Sivirine)
• Marine Life of the Caribbean (1984, with James Cribb and Thomas H. Suchanek)
• Jacques Cousteau's Amazon Journey (1984, with Mose Richards)
• Jacques Cousteau: The Ocean World (1985)
• The Whale (1987, with Philippe Diolé)
• Jacques Cousteau: Whales (1988, with Yves Paccalet)
• The Human, The Orchid and The Octopus (and Susan Schiefelbein, coauthor; Bloomsbury 2007)

Jacques Cousteau has been portrayed in films:

• The American comedy film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, directed by Wes Anderson and first released in December 2004, portrays Steve Zissou, a fictional oceanographer strongly inspired by Jacques Cousteau.{{Cite web|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/60795/32-facts-about-life-aquatic-steve-zissou|title=32 Facts About 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou'|website=Mental Floss|access-date=21 October 2016|date=24 December 2014}}
• The French film The Odyssey, directed by Jérôme Salle and first released in October 2016, focuses on Cousteau's life, especially regarding his relation with his first wife, Simone Melchior, and his second son, Philippe Cousteau.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/film/festivals/world-premiere-wild-bunch-the-odyssey-san-sebastian-1201836337/|title=World Premiere of Wild Bunch-Sold 'The Odyssey' Closes San Sebastian|website=Variety|access-date=21 October 2016|date=12 August 2016|archive-date=21 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021200711/http://variety.com/2016/film/festivals/world-premiere-wild-bunch-the-odyssey-san-sebastian-1201836337/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2016/10/11/biopic-cousteau-odyssee-apprend-cote-obscur/|title=Ce que le biopic sur Cousteau, "L'Odyssée", nous apprend de son côté obscur|website=The Huffington Post (French Edition)|access-date=21 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017183145/http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2016/10/11/biopic-cousteau-odyssee-apprend-cote-obscur/|archive-date=17 October 2016|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://theplaylist.net/watch-first-international-trailer-jacques-cousteau-biopic-odyssey-starring-lambert-wilson-audrey-tautou-20160514/|title=Watch: First International Trailer For Jacques Cousteau Biopic 'The Odyssey' Starring Lambert Wilson & Audrey Tautou|website=The Playlist|date=14 May 2016 |access-date=21 October 2016|archive-date=22 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022021807/http://theplaylist.net/watch-first-international-trailer-jacques-cousteau-biopic-odyssey-starring-lambert-wilson-audrey-tautou-20160514/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/cinema/2016/08/23/03002-20160823ARTFIG00224--l-odyssee-lambert-wilson-dans-la-peau-de-cousteau.php|title=L'Odyssée : Lambert Wilson dans la peau de Cousteau|website=Le Figaro|access-date=21 October 2016|date=23 August 2016|archive-date=22 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022021501/http://www.lefigaro.fr/cinema/2016/08/23/03002-20160823ARTFIG00224--l-odyssee-lambert-wilson-dans-la-peau-de-cousteau.php|url-status=live}}
• Jacques Cousteau was featured in Epic Rap Battle of History's sixth season, and was portrayed by Peter Shukoff. He faced off against Steve Irwin, portrayed by Lloyd Ahlquist.
• Jacques Cousteau is depicted in the music video for the Plastic Bertrand song titled "Jacques Cousteau." In the video Jacques Cousteau is depicted as wearing nautical attire and living in a fish bowl.
• Jacques Cousteau was briefly featured in the animated television series, "SpongeBob SquarePants", in the episode Spongebob's Big Birthday Blowout. He was portrayed as the French Narrator who frequently speaks and/or makes appearances in the show.

• Becoming Cousteau, a 2021 full-length film biography
• {{annotated link|Alcyone (1985 ship)|Alcyone}}
• {{annotated link|William Beebe}}
• {{annotated link|Albert Falco}}
• {{annotated link|Scuba diving}}
• List of Legion of Honour recipients by name (C)

{{Reflist|40em}}

• Undersea Explorer: The Story of Captain Cousteau (1957) by James Dugan
• Jacques Cousteau and the Undersea World (2000) by Roger King
• Jacques-Yves Cousteau: His Story Under the Sea (2002) by John Bankston
• Jacques Cousteau: A Life Under the Sea (2008) by Kathleen Olmstead

{{Commons category}}

{{wikiquote}}

• {{cite web |title=The Cousteau Society |url=http://www.cousteau.org/ |access-date=9 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240701135641/http://www.cousteau.org/ |archive-date=1 July 2024 |url-status=live}}
• {{IMDb name|184150}}
• {{Find a Grave|9889}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100615233827/http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/06/jacquesyves-cousteau-centennia.html Jacques Cousteau centennial: 'The sea is everything']}}
• [http://otlibrary.com/ Ocean Treasures Memorial Library]
• [http://otlibrary.com/memorial-sites/jacques-yves-cousteau-memorial/ Ocean Treasures Memorial Library/Jacques-Yves Cousteau Memorial]
• [http://otlibrary.com/memorial-sites/jacques-yves-cousteau-memorial/cousteau-memorial-links-pg-1/ Ocean Treasures Memorial Library/His Legacy]
• [http://otlibrary.com/memorial-sites/jacques-yves-cousteau-memorial/photos-of-the-captain-2/ Ocean Treasures Memorial Library/Photos]

{{Jacques Cousteau}}

{{Académie française Seat 17}}

{{BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award}}

{{International Emmy Founders Award}}

{{1987 Television Hall of Fame}}

{{Underwater diving|hisdiv}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousteau, Jacques-Yves}}

Category:1910 births

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Category:People from Saint-André-de-Cubzac

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Category:French marine biologists

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