A voyage through time with Jean-Michel Cousteau

Welcome to Sangu Stories!

We are honoured to invite Jean-Michel Cousteau to Sangu Stories today. A French oceanographic explorer, environmentalist, educator, film producer and advocate. He has been exploring the vast ocean for 75 years. This episode brings memories of the 60s and 70s on the Calypso with Captain Cousteau to life.
 
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Transcript

Jean-Michel Cousteau: 0:00

Welcome to Sangu Stories. We are honoured to invite Jean-Michel Cousteau to Sangu Stories today. The French oceanographer, explorer, environmentalist, educator, film producer and advocate, who has been exploring the ocean since he was seven years old. We have partnered with Jean-Michel Cousteau's Ambassadors of the Environment program offering our guests enriching, inspiring and educating experience to explore the surrounding nature and ecosystems. Welcome to the Maldives Jean-Michel. It's a privileged to have you here. Our listeners are all very excited to hear us speak today and share some stories about your first experience with us in the Maldives. And also we would love to know more about the Calypso. So maybe the first question is about you've arrived, no jet lag straight into the ocean. Tell us about that experience diving in. Well, I was looking forward to diving here because I already know, thanks to my colleagues, who were here before that they are treasures- beautiful. And I enjoyed my dive. I saw all kinds of species and particularly some of the behaviour which I had not observed before. And as you may know, I've been diving for 75 years. I'm celebrating this right here in the Maldives, and I'm very happy because for the last 20 months, I was not able to travel because of the situation worldwide, but now yay. And I really, really enjoyed it. But what I have to say, which to me is even more important than that. The people, the Maldivians wherever they're coming from, they are the nicest people. And to me, that makes a huge difference. And I really, really enjoyed this dive and those people and the way they welcome me and taking care of us, You know, that's what, ultimately we hear a lot in the resort itself and I've been here over 20 years. It's the beauty of the people and how it really amplifies this, this pure and beautiful nature around us. And, and, and I really have been so excited to have this moment with you today because it's been a journey for us over the last 18 months. Just bringing the resorts to life, investigating what we could do differently here in the Maldives with The Ritz-Carlton and also bringing attention to very important subjects in the world. And I think Maldives is a beacon and an example to the world because we're judged so clearly, uh, the impact that's going on around the world is amplified here on the island, uh, and equally getting involved with yourself and the Ocean Futures Society has been a bit of a dream of mine. Uh, and today we bring it alive, you know, so, but if I wind the clock back to, you know, 75 years ago, when you first started at seven years of age and jumped in the water with your father and, and what was that like, tell us that one. It was very exciting because my brother was even younger than me. My mother was there. She was the first woman on the planet to scuba dive and the four of us, we would go out and dive as a family just to explore in the Mediterranean sea different locations, mostly the Southern part. And, uh, it was fascinating. And I fell in love with octopus. I fell in love with, uh, all kinds of creatures that live there. And, uh, I found out that, I could pick up sea urchins and I learned how to eat them. Wow. When I was 7, 8, 9 years old It's incredible. And the technology we have today under the water compared to then, it was very rudimentary as well. Diving was very simple and you were discovering it, creating, inventing it, you know, it was, it was new. Well we were, let's say we were testing the equipment and the technicians people, my father and his colleagues were very important because invented the equipment was my dad. They were learning everything every day and, we would share our experience and how we felt. And yeah, I'll never forget it. Yeah, Because now we have these rules about our depths and our gauges, and we know all the correct things to do. We still don't bark- they click us in and we go down and we don't think about it, but that was not like that in those days. And if I sort of connect that to Calypso, um, I'd love to know more about the stories. Well, my father was in the French Navy and he really wanted to have the opportunity to go further and go away. And of course he could not use the French Navy ships. So he had to find a way, and there was a British banker who discovered the existence of Jacques Cousteau. And he said, I want to help you. And he found a boat which was in Malta abandoned after the second world war, which had been built in Oregon. And, there was a series of these boats, three or four of them. And ultimately you say, well, I have one, that's my yacht. And if you want one captain, I can give it to you. And he managed to get it there. And these yachts, which were quite quite a big creatures use during the second world war. But, they then changed their name after the war and they were called Calyspo one, two and three. Okay. And one of them was given to my dad and that's when he welcome a few other people. And I say welcome because he couldn't eat. He had no money. He could not pay them. So, they were volunteers and, uh, one of them I will never forget it because he was one of the longest employee. You say Jean-Michel can you come and help me to clean the ship? We need to change the painting son on the sea shore. So I got involved with that ship. And one thing after the other, I never stopped being involved. And although I went to school every weekend holidays, vacations. I was with the ship and we went in different parts of the world. And I had the privilege as a child to discover parts of the planet at a very early times in my life. So that's the fifties and sixties. That's right. Yeah. You're right. It's, it's, it's hard Before you were born. I may have not been thought about that time, but definitely I came out in the sixties. I was born in 68, but you know, and no one, you know, everyone, maybe definitely you didn't live on that boat for the rest of your life. You know, you became an architect and you went off and did other things. And then and then came back involved again as I understand, forming Ocean Futures Society is one of our questions because I mean, that's one of the things we're talking about today as well. How did that come about? Well, it's, you know, it's when you look at the history that I had the privilege of living, in my opinion, it all makes a lot of sense. And I as a child and as I recommend to any young people, I say, follow your dream. And one day you will wake up and say, that's what I want to do. And my father kept saying, what's your dream, follow your dream. And one day I said, oh, dad, I want to build cities under water because of my experience being in the ocean and you should go go for it. So I became an architect- licensed architect. But then I had to do my military service like any young person in France at the time. And, after you learn to protect yourself and so on, then the French government said, well, you have choices as an architect. You can go to different countries and they give you a list. And I said, I'll go to Madagascar. And he said, shoo, go over there. And I went to Madagascar was there for 23 months. I'll never forget it. And for all that period of time, I design and follow the construction of six schools in Madagascar. It's a big country, it's as big as California. And I had all my diving equipment with me. So every weekend, the time I had I would dive, dive, dive, dive all the way around Madagascar and go to some of the islands nearby. And just as a story, my father got stuck with Calypso in the red sea. And he called me and decision. You said, I've never been in the Indian Ocean. Can you help me? Because now I have to come in to the Indian Ocean, I cannot go back to the Mediterranean sea. Can you help me and see? Sure. So he came and I started showing him places where I was diving and people were amazing. And, u h, that to me was a very, very exciting time, but that's also, and before C alypso came, u h, what happened to me? I said, I wanted to go diving into all those islands. And one day somebody had a boat and said, you w anna come with us and we'll bring you back. And I went all the way to the Maldives. And then my father asked me, s ay, can you help me? Because, u h, you you've had that experience here, a lot of fascinating stories all the way on Calypso and all the way around the planet. So the Calyso um, in those days, travels around world and discovers, and there's been a lot of documentary Films and that inspiration then. So circling that back into the Ocean Futures Society. How did, how did that come about? Well, much later on, of course, and, uh, when I was with Calypso, so we were filming in the Amazon and we were in a very far places. Remember, in those days we were filming film and there was 16 millimeter film, and you could never see what you had film. You had to take it to take it to a lab somewhere and process it and make a copy. And then you could project it to see what you had film. So it was taking hours and hours and hours, and it was costing a lot of money to process. So what I was doing a lot out of Calypso, so is to come to Los Angeles where we had a lot of these films being processed okay. And getting copies. And when it was available to look at it, I would connect with my dad and say, do you can come so we can see what has been shot. And we didn't know in those days, if it was usable or if we had to go back to the same place, no, it was totally different than what we do today. And then, I became very much involved with Calypso and with the people who were filming and the editing team and so on. And then, uh, I spent a lot of time in that part of the world. And then, we lived there for quite awhile. So through, then much, much later on, right. My father passed away. Right. And that's when I say after I, and I have this where my father on Alcyone, which was another ship that was a design with wind ship. We were on our way to New York. And I have that on film where we are sitting on the back of the ship and my dad saved many things. And then he turned to me and he said, and it is you Jean-Michel who will carry on the flame of my faith. Wow. And of course the day he got very sick and so on and he passed away and after he passed away, I said, I'm going to create this organization to honour his philosophy. Wow. And that's when I created Ocean Futures Society, wow, that's powerful. Yeah. The late seventies, late seventies, nineties, nineties, The late nineties. I'm sorry. And that's where, I guess in reflection, we start to understand more about the damage that's going on in the world. And the impact that we've made to the environment started to become voiced out right through. Absolutely, and not just that, but going back to the same place where I was there 20 years before, I couldn't believe how things have changed. Right. Most species have disappeared. Wow. all the coral reefs were dead. Oh. Uh, storms that destroyed all kinds of regions

Mark Hehir: 15:38

and you've got film of it. So you could, you had a document.

Jean-Michel Cousteau: 15:42

Did a lot of that in those days.

Mark Hehir: 15:44

So going back now and seeing how it is now, compared to that, what the film you had in the earlier days, that must've been also a dramatic moment as well, that that's, that's real life. You can really see the change.

Jean-Michel Cousteau: 15:58

I can do that. But what is very important for Ocean Futures that I created is to encourage people since we have a much better way of filming and faster, and we have communication, which connects us to 9 billion people on the planet, which I couldn't do when I was a kid. And today we can share with people where it's going on and potentially come up with solutions to their problems that we have created by the size of our species. And the fact that we are making a lot of mistakes and we are learning from those mistakes, but time is of the essence. And, we need to literally find better ways to take care of nature, which we all depend upon. And that's where I learned that we are the only creature, only species that has the capacity and the privilege to decide not to disappear you some choice we can disappear. Nature will keep going on one way or the other. And so we have now you huge opportunities. And that to me is, was very exciting to be coming to the Maldives because I knew what you wanted to do here. Yeah. You know, and we'll come into that in the moment, but, you know, as you did land and you did get into the water, I wanted to know a bit more about your observations. And what did you find that was unique? Uh, underwater here, we spoke a little bit about the people but what creatures or what, Well, you know, most people know that I've been diving in 75 years. Most of them asked me what's your best dive. Right. And I always tell them the next one, because every time whether I find a new species or a new behaviour, I'm like a kid I'm totally fascinated. And I want to share that with the public, because today we have the ability to reaching out to young people, particularly like sponges, they have absorb the information. It goes right in there. And then they share it with their friends, with their neighbors and with their parents. And, they are trying to make their parents make better decision, because we need to really understand that every species, plants, animals on land or in the ocean, connecting with other species or animals. And every time you lose a species, the system gets a little weaker and it can crash if you have too many species that have disappeared. And that's why we having today with all the mistakes that we making, particularly with our creation of energy, we, uh, have major climate change taking place.

Mark Hehir: 19:07

Yeah. Definitely want to talk about that a bit more today with you. And because, you know, as people now become more conscious about sustainable practices around the world, and we've just opened this beautiful resort, but do you know, the global warming is happening at an alarming rate. I really wanted to get your feelings on that because we know why we're both here today talking about the Ocean Futures Society, coming to the Maldives and amplifying it to the youth and educating them. U m, but for my question to you w ould be more about i t. What's your thoughts on that? Because it's, you know, we spoke about it a couple of days ago as well. It's, it's alarming, right? It's u h, and everything we do seems to impact that negatively or positively,

Jean-Michel Cousteau: 19:55

I will not be doing what I'm doing. If I didn't believe we can head towards solutions. I would abuse what's leftover and take advantage of it. And in your, the fact that I've children and grandchildren. Yeah, well, I do care and everybody should think about the future. And, because of that, we have new technology. We have new ways of behaving. We have to understand that because of all of the mistakes that we've made, uh, the temperature of the ocean is increasing. The level of the ocean is increasing the strengths, uh, and, uh, uh, emission of CO2, which pollutes a lot of parts of the planet. And we breathe that stuff. Let's not forget that if we are the breaths of air, you take comes from the ocean, wherever you are on the planet, we all connected to that system. And we have technology. And that's why coming to the Maldives to me was very exciting because who had the courage or the real fascinating view of what can be done on islands, which are completely flat and can be destroyed in the next storm. Like we see it happening in the other parts of the world. Yeah. Well, solar power replacing fuel, the water which we ship all over the planet in plastics can be created. And as an architect, looking at what has been done with wood, particularly, in the Maldives for me, was a very, very exciting opportunity. And my dream is to be able to share that with people not on only over the world for them to understand that this place is very, very much working, but we need to do that in many other parts of the planet. And we need to do it as quickly as we can, because every time you lose a species on land or in the ocean, you are losing, uh, literally the capital that, literally allow the quality of life, which we all benefit and are privileged to enjoy. So, uh, to me, uh, it's exciting, and being in indeed, here in the Maldives meeting all kinds of people who are coming from different islands and different parts of this region is exciting to me because it's just like plants and animals in the ocean or on land. Yeah.

Mark Hehir: 22:57

And what, you know, you're our biggest initiative here, bringing Ocean Futures Society. And then having come down for this visit and ensuring the programmes are, are running and we're growing and innovating them to suit the Maldives, is that we have some wonderful children that come and stay here that can be inspired to tell their parents, as you said before, and, and be a beacon for that. And us getting that inspiration and education for them to help protect the world is something that I've learned from your, your team and, uh, and why we're doing what we're doing. And so lastly, I'd like to understand what your advice would be to those young, aspiring, uh, ocean conservationists of the future. What would you say to them?

Jean-Michel Cousteau: 23:44

Well, the mission of the Ocean Futures is if you protect the ocean, you protect yourself. And, uh, we've had the privilege amongst many other opportunities to have a relationship with The Ritz-Carlton system. And we have educational programs called Ambassador of the Environment in different locations of the planet. And, uh, we have exceptions in one place, which is a jewel in Fiji of diving, which bears my name. I don't own it, but, uh, we can control it and we can control it because We want to make sure they do the right thing with the right equipment. And so between the educational side and the technical side, we are able to connect with the public who come there was their children or not. And also we help the Fijians, uh, because, uh, we gave a presentation in different schools out there. So The Ritz-Carlton has been playing a very important role for that to make Ocean Futures what we're doing today. And here we are in the Maldives because of.

Mark Hehir: 25:10

Those little, those little kids and the, and the children and teens that are getting involved in the programme of getting very excited. We already have a few that are, I guess, aspiring to be the next Jean-Michel and lead the future. So, I'm so excited that you're here t o d o t hat with us and really appreciate your time with us today. And we look forward to diving with you tomorrow. I'll be out there in the morning.

Jean-Michel Cousteau: 25:38

I've been waiting for you now. Yesterday and today I went diving and I said, where's Mark there

Mark Hehir: 25:44

I was just making sure that you have enough practice and you're organised. And then I would come and let local pros join you tomorrow morning,

Jean-Michel Cousteau: 25:54

The problem is that, uh, all my colleagues, so we can keep an eye on you to make sure

Mark Hehir: 26:01

I will not bring anything with me. Uh, you know, we're out of the water. I wouldn't be quiet as a mouse or a fish. Thanks for your time today.

Jean-Michel Cousteau: 26:09

Is your better half going to be there? And she's not going to dive. She will be, she'll be diving. Okay. Because otherwise I would have given her a report,

Mark Hehir: 26:25

The only reason you probably, or your, uh, that y'all going to come and dive with me.

Jean-Michel Cousteau: 26:30

But for us, it's very important to communicate with the property and educational program is something that, uh, uh, bear my name and thanks to my dad. And 75 years of scuba diving with experts, is to pass on as much as we can, the information, not only to the adults, but specifically to the young people who are the decision makers of tomorrow. We're going to do a much better job than I've done. When I was their age, I made a lot of mistakes when I was young.

Mark Hehir: 27:07

Right now, they've got all of that benefit of education. That's right. Thanks for your time, appreciate it.

Speaker 4: 27:15

Well, I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. Join me next time. When we discover more about The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands