“When you dive, you begin to feel that you’re an angel.” ~Jacques Cousteau
Before there was the “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, there was Jacques Cousteau. Heck, the Steve Irwin’s of the world may have come to be because of Jacques Cousteau.
Ten years ago today, June 25, 1997, Commander Cousteau (as he was known to many around the world), succumbed to a heart attack and died.
I wanted to write to honor him today because I remember “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau” and how it captivated my then young mind and imagination. His passion and love for the water and all forms of life within it was more than evident.
Now I’m older and can appreciate what it was he really did do –which was quite a lot. He might have started off as an explorer, but he ended up as so much more: an inventor, a storyteller, a researcher, and a conservationist.
Jacques Cousteau Facts
• In 1930 he joined the French Navy. He actually wanted to be a naval pilot, but was injured in a serious car accident that prevented him from pursuing that dream. Instead, he was transferred to sea duty, which he admitted was the turning point for what would follow in his life.
• He received France’s highest honor, the Legion of Honor, for his espionage activities during World War II.
• He became a “manfish” with the help of Emile Gagnan when together they created the aqua lung.
• The boat that he traveled on for a many an undersea adventure was named Calypso, a former mine-sweeping vessel that a millionaire gave him money to buy. He converted it from war-performing duties to floating-laboratory duties.
• In 1956, his documentary, “The Silent World,” won top award at the Cannes Film Festival and set the course for his filmmaking career.
• He also wrote books in addition to filming his undersea adventures, including The Living Sea.
• Today, his legacy lives on via the work of The Cousteau Society.
And after a lifetime of invention, exploration and storytelling, Cousteau said not long before he died that he was proudest of helping to save Alaska, the Antarctic, the Amazon and of helping awaken the awareness of people all over the world. ~From CNN Interactive, with contributions from Mark Leff and the Associated Press
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