Jacques-Yves was born in Saint-Andre-de-Dubzac, France,
to Daniel and Elizabeth Cousteau on June 11, 1910. Cousteau
always loved the water and in his early teens, he became
interested in machines. At the age of 11, Cousteau built
a model crane and at 13, he built a battery-operated car.
Also in his early teens, Cousteau became fascinated with
films. He saved his money and bought a home movie camera.
In high school,
Cousteau became bored with school and began to cause trouble.
As a result, his parents sent him to a strict boarding
school. Cousteau excelled in this new environment and
upon graduation, he entered the Ecole Navale (Naval Academy)
in Brest. In 1933, Cousteau joined the French Navy as
a gunnery officer. It was during this time that he began
his underwater explorations and began working on a breathing
machine for longer dives.
In 1937, Cousteau
married Simone Melchoir, and they had two sons, Jean-Michel
and Phillipe. Two years after their marriage, Cousteau
fought for the French in World War II. He spent time as
a spy and was awarded several medals. During the war,
Cousteau still found time to continue his underwater work.
In 1943, he and French engineer Emile Gagnan perfected
the aqualung, which allowed a diver to stay underwater
for several hours. Divers used the aqualung to located
and remove enemy mines after World War II.
Cousteau was
named a capitaine de corvette of the French navy in 1948,
and two years later he became president of the French
Oceanographic Campaigns. That same year, Cousteau purchased
the ship Calypso to further his explorations. To finance
his trips and increase public awareness of his undersea
investigations, Cousteau produced numerous films and published
many books. His films include The Silent World (1956)
and World Without Sun (1966). Both won Academy Awards
for best documentary. His books include The Living Sea
(1963), Dolphins (1975), and Jacques Cousteau: The Ocean
World (1985).
Because of
his many projects, Cousteau retired from the French navy.
In 1957, he became director of the Oceanographic Museum
of Monaco, founded the Underseas Research Group at Toulon,
and headed the Conshelf Saturation Dive Program. The Conshelf
program was an experiment in which men lived and worked
underwater for extended periods of time.
In 1968, Cousteau
was asked to make a TV series. For the next 8 years, The
Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau introduced the public
to a world of sharks, whales, dolphins, sunken treasure,
and coral reefs. In 1974, Cousteau started the Cousteau
Society to protect ocean life. The membership of this
non-profit group has grown to include more than 300,000
members worldwide. Cousteau was awarded the Medal of Freedom
by President Reagan in 1985 and in 1989, he was honored
by France with membership in the French Academy.
On January
11, 1996 the Calypso sank in Singapore harbor. In his
last years, Cousteau was involved in a legal battle with
his son, Jean-Michael over the use of the Cousteau name.
Cousteau died on June 25, 1997.
Captain Cousteau shot his first film , Par Dix-huit mètres
de fond (Ten Fathoms Down), in 1942, diving while holding
his breath, using an old Kinamo 35mm camera in a watertight
case. A year later, with the Aqua-Lung, he shot his second
film, Epaves (Shipwrecks) and for this one, he could take
his time. The Cousteau team's inventions have made filming
undersea life possible, so that people can learn to understood
and love it.
Light was
the first problem that undersea expeditions confronted:
the sea that is so blue and clear at the surface plunges
into total obscurity at depth. Artificial lighting has
resolved the obstacle of darkness and let the Cousteau
team film marine life with such good results!
In 1948, Cousteau
used powerful lights linked to the surface by an electric
cable to produce the first underwater footage filmed in
color. Cousteau team studied the behavior of light rays
in water so they could refine their undersea photography
and filming. Reds are absorbed first, then yellows, greens
and blues. The team needed artificial lighting to render
undersea landscapes with the full range of tints, beginning
just a few meters below the surface.
In 1963, when
World Without Sun was shot, those early days of filming
were well past. Calypso had kilometers of cables and a
dozen cameras available. For filming in low light, Cousteau
used an " owl eye ", an electronic device that
multiplies ambient light. Using the owl eye, which requires
just the faintest light, he filmed the behavior of nautiluses
for the first time.
Since most
marine animals swim more quickly than humans, Cousteau
developed underwater scooters that he used for The Silent
World. These little " lawnmowers with propellers
" were very maneuverable, reached a speed of 5 km/h
and could operate for an hour at a time.
In 1970, compressed-air
tanks inside the scooters made work easier for the divers.
The " wet submersible ", refined and streamlined,
with a Plexiglas nose and a brace to support the pilot's
body, was connected to the user only by the mouthpiece.
It proved much more practical both for launching into
the water and for navigating.
