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Jacques Cousteau’s grandson wants to build the ISS of the sea

smithsonianmag.com

21–30 of 159 posts

Re: Jacques Cousteau’s grandson wants to build the ISS of the sea

#21
post #11

I suspect somebody was inspired by the Octonauts' Octopod, down to the "liquid door" hatch inside: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/octopod/images/f/fd/Octo...

I never really liked Octonauts. I was gutted when the kids were old enough that they didn't want to watch the latest Fireman Sam movie on the other hand - especially after I'd spent 2 years waiting for it :( They grow up so fast.

Fireman Sam is trash. Long live Sarah and Duck! ;)

Re: Jacques Cousteau’s grandson wants to build the ISS of the sea

#22
post #10

Jacques Cousteau was a horrible person, both personally (bigot, anti-Semite, pathological liar) and professionally. It's inexplicable that he passes for a defender of nature when in reality he "explored" things by blowing them up with explosives and destroyed unique sites, etc. The grandson is a different person of course; but he invokes his grandfather's name as a reference and proof of competence. Don't fall for it…

Do you have sources for such accusations?

I was surprised too. The anti-semite part seems to be dubious at best - the only link I found is someone's very liberal interpretation of some words

Re: Jacques Cousteau’s grandson wants to build the ISS of the sea

#24
post #10

Jacques Cousteau was a horrible person, both personally (bigot, anti-Semite, pathological liar) and professionally. It's inexplicable that he passes for a defender of nature when in reality he "explored" things by blowing them up with explosives and destroyed unique sites, etc. The grandson is a different person of course; but he invokes his grandfather's name as a reference and proof of competence. Don't fall for it…

Do you have sources for such accusations?

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https...

Dozens of other articles

Re: Jacques Cousteau’s grandson wants to build the ISS of the sea

#25
post #10

Jacques Cousteau was a horrible person, both personally (bigot, anti-Semite, pathological liar) and professionally. It's inexplicable that he passes for a defender of nature when in reality he "explored" things by blowing them up with explosives and destroyed unique sites, etc. The grandson is a different person of course; but he invokes his grandfather's name as a reference and proof of competence. Don't fall for it…

I don't know to what extent this is true (heard similar claims before but never checked), but you should provide some sources when making such strong allegations.

Re: Jacques Cousteau’s grandson wants to build the ISS of the sea

#26
post #10

Jacques Cousteau was a horrible person, both personally (bigot, anti-Semite, pathological liar) and professionally. It's inexplicable that he passes for a defender of nature when in reality he "explored" things by blowing them up with explosives and destroyed unique sites, etc. The grandson is a different person of course; but he invokes his grandfather's name as a reference and proof of competence. Don't fall for it…

Do you have sources for such accusations?

Plenty of sources (in French). For example:

Anti-Semitism: https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1999/06/18/la-plonge...

Cousteau's first wife Simone was independently wealthy and financed his boat (Calypso) and expeditions. She lived on board most of the time (yet never appears on camera). But he had another secret family (with kids) on the shore with a former flight attendant, since the late 70s. Simone only learned about it in 1990. Letters were published where she asks a friend in disbelief if this can be true. She then died within a few months. Can't find the letters right now but I did read them then.

Critique of "Le Monde du silence": https://www.rtl.fr/culture/medias-people/video-pourquoi-le-m...

In that movie from 1956 which won the Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or, the team blows a whole coral reef with dynamite in order to "count fish living in it". They also catch live sharks on board and kill them with shovels "because seamen don't like sharks".

You can watch the documentary and see for yourself.

Re: Jacques Cousteau’s grandson wants to build the ISS of the sea

#27
There sure is a lot to discover below the surface of our oceans.

I recently watched "Diving Deep" https://de.oceanfilmtour.com/en/movies/volume-7/diving-deep/ a documentary (part of the Ocean Film Tour 2020) about Mike deGruy, an ocean cinematographer.

deGruy showed what the chemicals that were used to disperse the oil during the Deepwater Horizon spill did to the life on the ocean floor. The chemicals removed the oil from the surface of the ocean (where it was visible), but made a mess below the surface. A wakeup call for sure.

He also appears to have been a really nice, fun guy.

Re: Jacques Cousteau’s grandson wants to build the ISS of the sea

#28
post #10

Jacques Cousteau was a horrible person, both personally (bigot, anti-Semite, pathological liar) and professionally. It's inexplicable that he passes for a defender of nature when in reality he "explored" things by blowing them up with explosives and destroyed unique sites, etc. The grandson is a different person of course; but he invokes his grandfather's name as a reference and proof of competence. Don't fall for it…

People want to see the world in black and white, and absolutes, today more than ever. It's fashionable to topple statues.

But the reality is grey and whatever his flaws might have been he contributed a huge amount to diving technology, to make the public discover the marine environment, and for the protection of oceans.

Re: Jacques Cousteau’s grandson wants to build the ISS of the sea

#29
post #10

Jacques Cousteau was a horrible person, both personally (bigot, anti-Semite, pathological liar) and professionally. It's inexplicable that he passes for a defender of nature when in reality he "explored" things by blowing them up with explosives and destroyed unique sites, etc. The grandson is a different person of course; but he invokes his grandfather's name as a reference and proof of competence. Don't fall for it…

Interestingly it is the writer of the article who wrote the headline!

The grandson's NPO is named after himself.

"The founder of the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and preserving the planet’s oceans, coastal areas and marine habitats, is building the world’s largest underwater research station."

It would be one thing if people knew Jacques was a bigot and touted his science as being great because it promoted bigotry. I had no idea. But I do think of ocean conservation when I think of him and that is the truly important part.

And, as you point out yourself, its the grandson. Sins of the grandfather?

Re: Jacques Cousteau’s grandson wants to build the ISS of the sea

#30
post #27

There sure is a lot to discover below the surface of our oceans. I recently watched "Diving Deep" https://de.oceanfilmtour.com/en/movies/volume-7/diving-deep/ a documentary (part of the Ocean Film Tour 2020) about Mike deGruy, an ocean cinematographer. deGruy showed what the chemicals that were used to disperse the oil during the Deepwater Horizon spill did to the life on the ocean floor. The chemicals removed the oi…

Completely support this. Grew up loving his father's programs and I think we should invest more in saving our planet than going to Mars.
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