_____
/ \
/ . . \
| ( ) | THE AQUALUNG
\ === /
\_____/ A Tribute to
||| Jacques Cousteau
/ \
/| |\ 1910-1997
/ | | \
o | | o "The sea, once it
| | casts its spell,
/| |\ holds one in its
/ | | \ net of wonder
o | | o forever."
| |
/ \
/ \
| |
\ CALYPSO /
\_______/
Celebrating Jacques-Yves Cousteau
June 11, 1910 - June 25, 1997
Cousteau brought the ocean into millions of living rooms, transforming how humanity sees the sea.
Academy Award, Palme d'Or - first film to show the undersea world in color
Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or for Short Film
Academy Award for Best Documentary - living beneath the sea
40 episodes bringing the ocean into homes worldwide
Continuing television documentary series
50 episodes exploring threatened environments
PBS series with deeper environmental messaging
Three-part series on the Amazon River ecosystem
Cousteau's masterpiece won both the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Palme d'Or at Cannes—one of only two documentaries ever to win the Palme d'Or.
For the first time, audiences saw the underwater world in color: coral reefs, sharks, shipwrecks, and the strange creatures of the deep. The film changed everything.
One controversial scene shows the crew dynamiting a reef to study its inhabitants— a practice Cousteau later deeply regretted and spoke against. His evolution from explorer to conservationist played out across his filmography.
This ABC television series (1968-1976) reached millions of viewers every week. Each episode explored a different aspect of marine life: dolphins, whales, sharks, octopi, coral reefs, and more. A generation of marine biologists cites this series as their first inspiration.