Jacques+Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau By: Brian Taylor

Jacques- Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, filmmaker, and

scientist. He is most remembered for his study of the sea and all forms of life in

the water. He was commonly known as Captain Cousteau.

Jacques Cousteau was born June 11, 1910, in France. He studied in Paris and

entered the French Navy in 1930. It was here that he began his underwater

explorations. Jacques began working on a breathing machine for longer dives. In

1937, he got married. Then, he fought in World War II. During the war, he still

found time for his underwater work. In 1943, he perfected the aqualung. It

allowed a diver to stay underwater for several hours. After the war, divers used it

to locate and remove leftover enemy mines from under the water. In 1948,

Cousteau bought the ship Calypso so that he could explore the sea. To get

money for his trips, he made films, and wrote books. He wanted people to learn

about the sea and the life underneath the water. Two of his films won Academy

Awards. They were, __The Silent World__ and __World Without Sun.__ He wrote books

called __The Living Sea__ in 1963, __Dolphins__ in 1975, and __The Ocean World__ in 1985.

In 1968, Cousteau was asked to make a T.V. series. It was called The

Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. In this show, every week Jacques Cousteau

and his crew took the Calypso to all parts of the world showing us all types of

undersea life, and how each sea creature lived and depended on the sea. Through

this program, Jacques Cousteau became familiar to Americans. It was on for eight

years. Jacques Cousteau introduced people to a world under the sea. He taught

and showed us about sharks, whales, dolphins, sunken treasure, and coral reefs.

He talked about the importance of ocean life, and how fragile it is. His first

priority was always to protect ocean life. He urged people to watch and learn

from sea life. He stressed the importance of keeping the sea clean from pollution.

He kept the idea in front of us that the sea and the life in it was fragile, and so

was our planet. He urged everyone to help to preserve and respect nature.