2015 awards archive
2015 Legend of the Sea
Beneath the Sea’s Legend of the Sea Program recognizes a vision, the drive to follow it, and a dedication to purpose. Its expression may be calculated, well-reasoned wisdom; it may involve plain and simple luck; or it may demand exceptional courage in challenges that today seem ordinary but were once new, mysterious, and untouched.
Jean-Michel Cousteau
“Protect the Ocean and You Protect Yourself”
Since first being “thrown overboard” by his father at the age of seven with newly invented SCUBA gear on his back, Jean-Michel Cousteau has spent his life exploring the enchanting world beneath the sea. The son of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel has traveled the world aboard Calypso and Alcyone, sharing with adults and children alike not only the wonders and beauty of the undersea world, but also his love and concern for protecting our water planet.
Explorer, environmentalist, and film producer - Jean-Michel has spent over five decades using his vast experiences to communicate to people of all generations his passion for the ocean and the need for people around the world, especially the youth, to become ambassadors of our environment. Traveling the globe, Jean-Michel meets with world leaders of governments and industries, and speaks to the young leaders of tomorrow, inspiring and educating them to understand our critical connection to the ocean and the importance of sustainable environmental decisions.
He has produced over 80 films and received the Emmy, the Peabody Award, the Sept d’Or, and the NOGI Award, among many other notable lifetime achievements. In 1999 he founded Ocean Futures Society, a nonprofit marine conservation and education organization that serves to communicate the ocean’s critical bond with humanity, document stories of change and hope, and inspire people to understand, fall in love with, and protect the ocean.
His most recent film, IMAX Secret Ocean 3D, provides a compelling, breakthrough look at a secret world within the ocean and is perhaps the biggest story of all - that the smallest life in the sea is the mightiest force on which we all depend. Secret Ocean 3D was due to be released in March 2015.
As Jean-Michel always says, “Everything is connected. When you protect the ocean, you protect yourself.”
