Jacques-Yves Cousteau has been called the "explorer of the world of silence". He invented SCUBA and pioneered unaided deep sea diving and underwater photography. He is regarded as one of the first scientists to foster and promote interest in protection of the underwater environment.

Jacques Yves Cousteau was born in 1910 and died in 1997.

He had a privileged background because his father was the lawyer for an American billionaire. At 13, he had already developed a passion for amateur film-making. Jacques-Yves also loved the sea and enjoyed sailing and swimming. He attended Naval School, then became an officer in the French navy and also learned to fly. A serious car accident in 1936 forced him to give up his career as a pilot.

During World War II, Cousteau concentrated on underwater photography. With his camera fitted inside a glass bowl, he spent his free time filming shipwrecks and the magnificent underwater world of the Mediterranean, in waters then still totally unpolluted.

An early diver dressed even for a shallow dive

At that time, divers had to wear suits connected to the surface by an air tube. Their suits and helmets were very heavy and cumbersome. This meant that divers could not be free to explore. Cousteau dreamed of being able to dive freely. He wanted people to be able to swim underwater like fish, able to breathe easily and without the restrictions that the deep sea diving gear imposed.

Cousteau and his wife prepare for one of the early SCUBA dives

From then on, Cousteau was able to make dive after dive with the aid of his invention, filming shipwrecks from the war for the French Navy, or ancient wrecks for his own pleasure as amateur archaeologist. In 1947, he reached the record depth of 100 metres and suddenly discovered his passion for oceanography.

The public owes most of its knowledge of ocean life to the television programs of Jacques Cousteau. Although the early programs were in black and white, they captivated audiences globally.

To film and work underwater, Cousteau designed small "diving saucers" and, later, underwater cabins. These could work at a depth of 110 metres. Sometimes the "oceanauts" worked at this depth for up to several weeks at a time.After many years on the oceans, the explorer had become aware of the threat posed by people to marine eco-systems and the Planet as a whole.

In 1960, he campaigned against the dumping of radioactive waste in the Mediterranean and General de Gaulle, then President of the Republic, put an end to the practice.

In the United States, in 1974, he set up the Cousteau Society to promote the protection of the Planet and to raise funds. At the Rio Earth Summit in Brazil, in 1992, he launched a petition for the rights of future generations which received more than 5 million signatures. The media nicknamed him "Captain Planet".

He died on June 25, 1997, at the age of 87. Today, his work is carried on by his family who also organise eco-tours and continue to film the mysteries of the deep.

Source: Antoine Trièves Journalist © ministère des Affaires étrangères. Label France.