Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

This hero is a marine biologist and environmental worker named Jacques-Yves Cousteau. He was born June 11th 1910. He loved swimming as a child, which led to his fascination of marine biology. His name became well known mostly because of his tv show called "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau." His amazing life ended on June 25, 1997.

The ALCYONE

Throughout his life, Jacques Cousteau had 3 different boats. One was called the Calypso, which was sunk by a barge in 1996 and refloated. Another boat was the Alcyone, and another was the Calypso II, each of which has 1 or 2 turbosails.

The AQUALUNG

Jacques Cousteau has invented many things to help the world understand the ocean. His first submarine was called a "diving saucer" and he also made an underwater cabin where six men lived for 27 days one hundred metres below. Another of his inventions is called the Aqualung, an invention attaching an oxygen tank to the mouth. He also invented a diving suit that was light enough for divers to move more freely. The first scuba dives happened in the Mediterranean in 1944, and soon after that, Jacques Cousteau invented an underwater scooter for the divers. It was called "the sea fleas." In 1982 one of Cousteau's later inventions was built called the "turbosail" which is an energy efficient steam boat like the "Alcyone", one of three boats owned by Cousteau.

Jacques Cousteau has also had many environmental accomplishments and discoveries. Did you know that he discovered the hole in the ozone layer?! before Cousteau set sale on Calypso, the world didn't have as much knowledge of the sea, or the threat we caused to it. After spending so much time in the water, he realized our threats to marine eco-systems. One of his best accomplishments was the stopping of radioactive waste in the Mediterranean Sea.

Another interesting fact about Jacques Cousteau is that he was in the army. During the second world war Cousteau was a spy for France and received the country's highest award. He first entered the Naval Academy in 1930, then retired in 1957 to join an oceanographic museum. Jacques Cousteau has done so many great things for the ocean, the environment, and the earth. We all owe much of what we know about the ocean to Jacques-Yves Cousteau. He is the one who discovered it all, and even now others carry on with his work.