100 Years Later: Jacques-Yves Cousteau

“When one man, for whatever reason, has an opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself.”

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jacques Cousteau, a personal hero of mine. Cousteau brought to light an undersea world that few people had ever seen before (and people like Jules Verne had mostly just imagined). His documentaries and books expanded the horizon of the known world by an incredible degree, and his love for nature and commitment to environmentalism were infectious and inspiring. How could anyone see those images and not be moved?

Today there are hundreds of documentaries about ocean life, thanks to Cousteau. He took the risks that made so much progress possible. (Being the human guinea pig for the first scuba systems meant he got to “discover” the range of terrible things that can happen to you from diving, too.)  Those early videos of him out exploring the ocean in his aqua-lung, like an astronaut, are enchanting.  Every image is a humbling reminder that humans are but a small part of our earth.

Andrew Revkin over at the New York Times has a really nice homage to him, and Gizmodo Australia has posted an excerpt of his book The Silent World, about his first use of the aqua-lung. Perhaps most thrillingly, The Cousteau Society has decided to broadcast, for free online, the entirety of his Oscar-winning 1960 film The Golden Fish.

Thank you, Jacques-Yves Cousteau.